Neither Naruto, nor the great Demon in his navel, knew how time was measured in his mindscape, knew how time passed in the seal, but Naruto figured that if he was going to be stuck awhile, he should pester Kyuubi for more information regarding the recent turn of events.

"I'M NOT," began the demon before Naruto could speak, "Answering any of your questions until you do something for me."

"Like what?" asked Naruto, suspiciously. The Kyuubi might want him to break the seal... which the fox already knew he wouldn't do for all the prizes in the world.

"I'll answer all your questions, IF YOU WOULD PLEASE CHANGE THESE SURROUNDINGS. It sucks being in a sewer," sniffed Kyuubi.

Wow. The demon was going soft.

"Uh, how do I do that?"

"USE YOUR MINISCULE BRAIN AND CONCENTRATE. This is YOUR mind after all."

After awhile, Naruto successfully turned the scenery outside the cage into a plain, grassy field with a large Koi pond. A few minutes later, the same effect was achieved on the fox's side, only much larger to accommodate the large demon. Naruto even went so far as to implant a sort of den for the fox to sleep in.

Kyuubi stretched and cracked a few neck vertebrae.

"AH, SPACE AND IMAGINARY FRESH AIR," sighed Kyuubi with pleasure. "Fire away."

"First question, why the heck is everyone deluded in thinking that the Yondaime is my father? Jiraiya in this world even said I was his kid, and usually people wouldn't joke about something like that. Seriously, the Yondaime is related to me? Get real! I'm not his kid. Anyway, what kind of sick freak seals a goddamn demon in his kid? No offense," added Naruto at the end of his rant.

"You are his kit," answered Kyuubi, who was now lying stomach down with his head resting on his enourmous red paws, "And have always been. No matter the world, dimension or the timeframe. And before you say otherwise, THAT IS EXACTLY what that idiot representative in your Godaime's office was going to tell you, SO DON'T SAY OTHERWISE."

Naruto had his suspicions, and a lot of 'em, but hearing the news that his idol, of all people, was his father came as a sort of shock. Oh yeah, and said idol happened to be the one that condemned him to be a jinchuuriki for the rest of his life. Wow. Story of a lifetime.

He sighed.

In the real world, he had always imagined that he was simply lost, and that one day, if he became well-known enough, (i.e. Hokage) his kaasan and tousan might come find him and be proud that he was protecting the village with all his might.

Foolish dreams.

But wait, kaasan? What about his mother?

"Who was my kaasan? Is she still alive? I mean in this world? What if something changed here?"

"As much fun I would have had gutting her trough with my claws, I do not know her fate with the changes the seal has made to the past. However in the old world, Uzumaki Kushina was dead. I do not know the details, do not ask, but I do know she passed on in one of the noble ways to die."

"Care to elaborate on these two ways?" spat a bitter and angry Naruto. You'd be angry to if someone told you they would take pleasure in killing your mom.

"To die protecting something precious, or bringing a new soldier and life into the world."

"Hmph. Never thought I'd hear 'protecting something precious' come out of your bloody maw."

"Why did you think I was slaughtering your pathetic excuse for shinobis IN THE FIRST PLACE?" snarled Kyuubi, who stood up with inhuman speed.

"What'd we do?" snapped Naruto.

"THAT UCHIHA BASTARD KILLED MY KITS! MY KITS! GODDAMN UCHIHA MADARA! YOU LEAF SHINOBI NEED TO ALL BE TORN APART PIECE BY PIECE!!!" roared Kyuubi in anguish.

Naruto was speechless. Of course there had to be a reason why Kyuubi would attack. Although most had assumed it was done for pleasure, he supposed the demon beasts did have families and feelings like everyone else.

"I'm sorry," said Naruto truthfully, "but that's only one man's deed, why didn't you kill him?"

Kyuubi glared at him and spoke. "I wanted too. But in my rage in full form, everything in my path was like to be destroyed, and that happened to be your village, where I knew he was from."

"Uchiha Madara betrayed the village before you came. I don't think he was even alive at the time," Naruto replied, slowly switching into diplomacy mode. Befriending the Kyuubi would be a good thing for the near future.

"ARGH! HE WAS THERE! I KNOW IT. IT was HE who was really in control of the Akatsuki! HEH. THAT IS, UNTIL WE SLAUGHTERED HIM FOR GOOD."

"So why do you still hold a grudge against my village?" asked Naruto, as he remembered killing that one Sharingan-user that he wasn't aware of previously.

There was a pause. It seemed as if Naruto's words were making the fox think. There really was no reason to hate the village any more. Naruto only hoped that the fox would think about it logically and swallow his dignity to come to terms that what he was doing was wrong.

After a long while, Kyuubi sighed hesitantly and reassumed his position on the grass.

"I suppose hate the village... because your accursed father still sealed me into you... which is ever so irritating... Though he chose his vessel well, I would not have liked to be in a weak, pathetic shinobi," muttered Kyuubi dejectedly in a low voice.

Naruto took that last comment as a compliment, but nevertheless continued.

"The reason you were sealed in the first place was because you were attacking," Naruto reminded Kyuubi in a neutral tone. Naruto knew stating the obvious would prompt the Kyuubi to mull it all over... perhaps it would work out for the best if both the Kyuubi and his vessel were reconciled. Really, it was a win win situation. The fox wouldn't be so bored, and Naruto would have the full backing of the demon who filled his days with sleepless nights.

Another pause.

"HUHHUH, I suppose you are correct. HMMM… perhaps if I am ever freed the first thing on my to-do list will not be to destroy your little village. CHE! ONE-ZERO NARU-KIT," huffed Kyuubi, whose malicious aura surprisingly faded, if only slightly enough to be detected.

"Naru-kit?"

"New nickname. LIKE IT OR BE EATEN."

"I'm flattered."

"HUH! You should be," smirked Kyuubi, whose aura was now being replaced with another, less overwhelming one.

"I'm glad you see reason," said Naruto, also smirking. "Truce?"

"CHE. Not quite," replied a grinning Kyuubi. "you should feel honored to have a demon, let alone the most powerful demon as a friend."

"Whoa! Friends too?" asked Naruto, taken aback.

"IF you don't want to be my friend," The malicious aura returned full force. "YOU COULD ALWAYS BE MY ENEMY," suggested Kyuubi menacingly.

"Nah! Friends it is. Wow, you aren't that bad after all!" said a sarcastic and relieved Naruto, as the aura dispersed again.

"Anymore inquiries?"

"What do you think I should do about this whole time-travel thing? From what you're saying, I get to live my entire life over again, meaning that I could change everything! I could make Konoha a better place! I could make sure Sasuke would never leave! Heck, I could even make sure Itachi was stopped!" said Naruto excitedly. "Plus, now I have a family, so no one will hate me! Heh! I could be a prodigy! I've already gained seventeen years of experience, and I know a lot of Jutsu! HAHA! I could even show Yond–err... tousan the Fuuton Rasengan! Heh, I'd love to see his face," smiled Naruto. It was weird calling the Yondaime tousan.

"I suggest a few things," began Kyuubi. "First, do not show off any jutsu you haven't already learned. Too many troublesome questions will not be welcome. Limit it to Kage Bunshin, maybe a few elemental jutsu, and no Rasengan until someone teaches you. Second, do not assume that everything that happened in the past will happen again, but feel free to intrude into things that seem like they will. Do NOT allow Itachi to destroy the Uchiha clan, meaning that you must expose the council's plan and prevent it from happening. Even if you fail, I do not see any problems with bringing that little whelp of an Uchiha back to Konoha if that it what you wish. He is no match for your current self. Even if by some obscure chance he is marked with the Heavenly Curse Seal, It will make no difference. " finished Kyuubi.

"Yeah, I agree completely. Though why not tell Minato who I really am? Surely he might guess eventually?"

"No. It is unnecessary and too difficult to try and explain. Allow him to think he is raising a normal son," advised the fox. "OOO… AND I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING!" said Kyuubi excitedly. "Your father will probably want to teach you the Hiraishin! HUHHUH, how nice it will feel to have the wind whipping around you at superspeed!"

"Oh yeah! That means that I'll be invincible! YES! I shall surpass my tousan!" grinned Naruto. "Ok so here's the deal. I change everything, make sure it's all great, and then become Hokage! Awesome! I think I better take this seriously though… the alternative to making everything better is having it be screwed over."

"I AGREE. Are you satisfied?"

"Nah, I think that's everything. If I think of something else, can I come back and ask?"

"I SUPPOSE. Company is welcome, though try not to be irritating... I have grown accustomed to sleeping for several days at a time..."

"Great. Now what happens?" asked Naruto.

"We wait. They are probably already done, I no longer feel the seal on your conscious. Try and go back whenever you want."

"Ok. Bye Kyuub's."

"DON'T PUSH IT, NARU-KIT," warned Kyuubi, bemusedly.


Naruto felt his consciousness slip back into the real world, and, a few seconds later, opened his eyes to stare at a white hospital ceiling.

He was wrapped in something warm and soft inside an indubator... probably a neonatal unit. Though his limbs still felt thick and ever-so irritatingly small, Naruto felt like he could sell his soul to the Shinnigami ten times over just to stay like this forever. He shifted his fuzzy gaze to the side in an attempt to see his surroundings, to find his gaze on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, lying in a bed right beside his unit.

And she was looking back.

With a smile that had love etched on every feature of her face.

Love, of the unconditional variety.

She had very long red hair and light blue eyes. Eyes that reminded him faintly of his own, only that his were a slightly darker shade, like his father's.

"Hi Naru-chan. Did you sleep well? I know Jiraiya put that seal on you, but you're okay now right? It's alright, kaasan is here."

His heart felt warm, and it threatened to burst with joy.

Naruto unwillingly closed his eyes to ascertain his surroundings again. They were in a small, private room of the hospital, with a table in the far corner with a few chairs haphazardly arranged around it. He also noticed that his fleecy blanket had a red embroidered swirl on an exposed fold. The symbol was just like the patches he would put on his clothes as his own sort of clan seal or personal crest. Now he could see that there really was reality to the idea, a pile of his mother's clothing draped across one of the chairs had it on them. Nothing else was in the room, other than a few medical machines and a surge protector. A large window with an overcast backdrop was set into the wall on the other side of Naruto's incubation unit and parallel to the door on the opposite wall. There was also a small nightstand with a vase of flowers, and an empty ramen bowl.

"Hey! Minato, get in here, Naru-chan is awake!" Uzumaki Kushina commanded as she turned her head towards the door.

Naruto heard footsteps and a door open, and a few seconds later saw both his parents looking at him, smiling. His father's radiant happiness seeping into everything around him, lighting the room, but that might have also been the dawn light breaking through the clouds and streaming into the room.

His heart warmed a few more degrees, and before he could help himself, began to cry. To onlookers, it did not look like an upset and distraught baby, but an infant who was crying genuine tears of happiness. His kaasan opened the incubation unit, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead affectionately. Her spiky and out of sorts bangs tickled his nose and he giggled.

She smiled again.

He smiled back.

She handed him to Minato, who told Kushina that he would be right back with Naruto, but that he first had to go tell the villagers what happened. Kushina laughed at him and told him the only reason he was going out, was because he wanted to show Naru-chan to every person he could find in a fifty mile radius.

"If you were in my place, you'd do the exact same thing," Minato laughed. And Kushina whole-heartedly agreed.

"Konoha! I bring you the best of news. The nine-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi, has been defeated, but through unorthodox means," began Minato, who stood on top of the Hokage tower addressing the huge crowd below with Naruto in his arms. "Before I tell you how, I take pleasure in informing you that…" Minato cleared his throat. "I'M A DAD!!"

The citizens roared with happiness. Most had known that the Yondaime's wife was pregnant, and they couldn't blame their Kage for being happy despite recent events. They were also elated at the news that the demon who threatened to destroy everything had been subdued successfully.

"My son, Namikaze Naruto, was born late last night, two hours after the demon began destroying the surrounding towns and heading towards Konoha." Minato's face grew serious.

"Meaning that he was the only child born today, and the only child that had to make a sacrifice to save the village. One day, he will be angry with me for what I have done, but I, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, must tell you that I had to seal the unstoppable beast into my only son. I tell you this with a warning. Many of my peers have urged me to make this an S-class secret thinking that you will hate him for what he is: the jailer of the Kyuubi. I must make this clear: he is NOT the Kyuubi, he is my son, who will be the protector of this village by keeping the demon at bay."

The roar of rage that spread through the crowd was overwhelming.

"So WHAT?! It must be killed! Even you should know that!"

"That poor child!"

"No way! Wasn't there some other alternative?"

"Yeah! No one should have to carry that burden all by himself!"

"Wait, what happens if Kyuubi is released? How can a simple child hold all that power?"

"Can he be released?"

"Probably!"

"Poor, innocent little boy!"

All the villagers were angry at the prospect that the Kyuubi was still alive. Of that number, a portion was calling for the death of the child, but those who now knew Naruto was the Yondaime's son thought better of it... It would be formidable indeed to have a copy of the Fourth with the added power of a fox demon. Many others were feeling for the boy who had to bear the burden.

"If there was any other method, I would have used any other self-sacrificing Jutsu," replied Minato to the crowd, solemnly. "I really wish that there was another option."

"Damn right you do!", thought Naruto, "you have no idea how much this caused me once upon a time..."

Naruto felt his heart warm again. The villagers cared now that they knew his background. The Sandaime hadn't told them where Naruto had come from... perhaps that if they knew he was a son of their prized ninja and not just some random child, they wouldn't have warped their views into naming him the actual beast instead.

Minato sighed and continued. "There is no way that Kyuubi can escape my seal. I am certain of it," said Minato firmly, addressing the villager who had called for the murder of his son. "I can also assure you that nothing will ever harm this village AGAIN!" finished Minato whom the villagers replied with another roar of approval.

"Alright, daybreak is almost here, so I want you all to go home and get some rest, because tomorrow we must all lend a hand to help. There will be a meeting at eleven for all citizens in fit condition to help rebuild. Bring all of your tools. If you do not have a place to sleep or stay, or do not have access to necessities, please line up in one of twenty-four different lines here and a team of ninja will help each of you. Also…" Minato continued on for a few minutes, addressing other problems before finishing with a salute and a goodnight.

A few Kage Bunshin and a simple shunshin later, they were walking in the hospital corridor.

"Uh oh..." Naruto thought as a very, very similar chakra signature came zooming towards them...

"SENSEI!! WHERE IS HE?!"

"Huh?"

Minato turned around only to be quite literally bowled over by a fifteen-year-old mini Kakashi. This resulted in two things. First, Naruto was promptly dropped onto the linoleum tile, while the Yondaime was thrown back to hit the opposite wall. Second, when Minato stood up, picked up the hysterically laughing Naruto, and proceeded to yell at Kakashi for his negligence, a very tired and vicious kaasan named Uzumaki Kushina came tearing out of a hospital room, looking all the world like someone was going to die.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" she shrieked.

Kakashi cowered in fear and immediately began squealing cries of "Gomen! I didn't know! I'm sorry! AHHHHHHHHH!"

After much screaming and yelling on Naruto's parental unit's part, waking up the rest of the hospital, beating Kakashi into a pulp and burning his little pornos, checking to see if Naru-chan was okay, and reassuring the nurses that no one would be suffering lasting injuries (except Kakashi), the Cyclops was allowed to hold a smirking and snorting Naruto.

"Hmm.. he looks just like your clone, sensei..." muttered Kakashi to a still angry Minato. "Except for those little lines on his cheeks…"

Needless to say that there were many sweatdrops all around. "Well that's obvious..."

They went back into Kushina's hospital ward where Kakashi was filled in on all the recent events.

"Wait, so you didn't seal the Kyuubi? Wouldn't you be dead?" asked a confused Kakashi.

"What I am about to tell you," said Minato in a very serious voice, "is an SS-class secret that no one, other than you, me, Kushina, Sarutobi, and Jiraiya will ever know. You are not allowed under any circumstance to tell anyone. You know the rules... and the consequences."

"I understand."

Minato performed several hand signs, making in the edges of the room glow blue for a few seconds, dispersing any potential eavesdropping jutsus and making the room impervious to spying from the outside.

"Namikaze Naruto's seal does not consist of only the Shikki Fuujin, but has an addition seal called a Sealate Warpein. Now, we don't exactly know what this means, but I have a theory. Before I tell you the theory, I'll give you some background info on the seal itself. First, this seal is incredibly difficult to create, but can feasibly be used alongside the Shikki Fuujin, but only because of the structure. I don't know how the Sealate Warpein actually got there, but I do know that the seal activated somewhere in the future, making time revert back to right before I performed any hand signs, so I didn't end up having to kill myself. I do know that because Naruto's soul will forever be attached to Kyuubi's, this Sealate Warpein destroyed the Kyuubi of this world. Two souls of the same person cannot exist in the same timeframe. The Shodaime proved that with all his theories."

"So basically, Naruto and Kyuubi's souls are attached by Shikki Fuujin, and because of the Sealate Warpein, you're not dead!"

"In a nutshell."

There were smiles all around as Minato dispelled the privacy Jutsu.

"Yeah, I can't believe my luck! I had honestly thought that I wouldn't ever be there for my little Naru-chan. Thank Kami! Now I can be there," started Minato, who lifted Naruto up under his arms, "to watch you speak your first words, learn your first Jutsu, and see you graduate from the academy! You're going to be the best ninja in the world! I'm going to teach you Kage Bunshin, Rasengan, and maybe…" Minato smiled a grin reminiscent of Naruto's own, "the Hiraishin!"

Kakashi gagged, and Kushina choked on some water she was drinking, while Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Yes!"

"What? Can't I teach my kid my Jutsu?"

"Yeah but you said that no one else could learn the Hiraishin." spluttered Kakashi.

"I have two words," Minato smirked, "Kekkei. Genkai."

"Hmm… well that makes sense. No wonder you wouldn't tell me anything about it, I mean come on, I'm your sensei!" said Jiraiya, who slid open the door and walked inside. "Why'd you have that seal on the room?"

"Minato was filling in Kakashi," said Kushina, who put down her water and eyed up the empty bowl of ramen forlornly, before ordering Kakashi to fetch her some more and double-time it.

"Yeah and bring me some back too! I'm starving over here! And I'll probably have to eat frikin baby food forever until I have TEETH," Naruto mentally exclaimed as he watched Kakashi go.

"Ah! I see," replied Jiraiya, who went over to Minato. "Here, I can I see the little tyke?"

Minato passed Naruto to Jiraiya with a look that said: Do anything and die.

"Aw… you look a lot like Minato. We'll need to get mommy to let you grow out these little side bangs and viola! Konoha's second Yellow Flash! Only this one has whiskers…" Jiraiya chuckled. "Hey, do you think when he's old enough, I should make him sign the toad summon contract?"

"Ugh, you two are going to make all those Jutsu go to his head," sighed Kushina.

"Don't worry, he's not getting any special treatment because he's your son, he's gonna have to work for it!" Jiraiya replied.

Naruto did his best impression of a face that said: "BRING IT!!!!"

"HA! They don't know what they're getting themselves into! Let's see…master Rasengan in a day, and learn Kage Bunshin on the first try…then perfect the Rasengan at age fourteen... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS EPIC!! DATTEBAYO~!"

Jiraiya handed Naruto back to Minato, who handed him to Kushina.

"So when are they going to release you and Naruto from the hospital?" asked Jiraiya, politely continuing the conversation.

"One of the nurses came in while you were gone with Naru-chan and told me another couple weeks for the both of us," Kushina replied, whose face implied that she wished her term of imprisonment was shorter.

At least Naruto knew where he had inherited his profound hate for hospitals. "I bet she's been here loads of times from working herself out like I did when I was younger... And judging from dad's expression over there he isn't too pleased about it either. Bummer too... I get to sit around in an incubator doing nothing but pissing my pants for the next few weeks... this SUCKS!"

"Well, the house and grounds survived the attack, so when you get out, you and Naruto can go home," said Minato. "I'll probably be really, really busy doing clean-up duty for at least a month. I can smell so many headaches already."

"Yeah, I saw some of your Kage Bunshin being harassed by some civilians on my way over here," Jiraiya chuckled. "At least this whole mess is over. Oh! I've been meaning to tell you that once I've done my share of clean-up duty and the village is back in order, I'm going travelling to gather information on Orochimaru... and that other organization we talked about that's beginning to make a mess of things... I'll keep sending back reports, but I'll be gone for awhile."

"Hey! Don't ditch me here with this mess of a village!" Minato whined, faking mock hurt.

"You're the one who's Hokage, not me," said a grinning Jiraiya, who was clearly unaffected by his pupil's antics.

There was much smiling and laughing all around, before Kushina announced that she was tired and wanted the baby to have a nice long nap to get better so they could go home sooner. So Jiraiya left, dragging a reluctant blonde Hokage with them, while Naruto was placed in the incubation unit. Then the lights were switched off, and his kaasan tucked him in with a kiss, before she told one of the nurses flittering in and around the hallway she was going to bed.

After a few minutes of mulling over everything that had recently just happened to him, Naruto began to drift off into the most peaceful sleep of his life. He had a tousan, a kaasan, and a chance to do it all over again. Life couldn't be any sweeter.