Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I probably wouldn't be doing this.

AN: Chapter Six Rewrite is up. So yeah.

Naruto sat in a meditative pose, eyes closed, body relaxed and still. The world seemed to fade away as he began to feel the connection with nature, its power just at his fingertips. And then the accursed furball had to chime in with its opinion.

"So I take it you didn't get to do whatever it was you were trying to do that you obviously failed to do because you're not doing it."

Naruto sighed and gave the Kyuubi a sort-of-annoyed stare. The Kyuubi had been acting strange over the last few years. Maybe it was just because he'd never gone and spoken with it unless he needed some chakra before, or maybe it was just cheerful about having finally regained a fair bit of the chakra it'd used to send them back, but the giant fox had been unusually chatty over the last few years. "Since when were you ever interested in my life?"

"What else do I have to do? Honestly, I don't have that many other options for entertainment. You think your head is a thrilling place to spend hundreds of days each year? In countless millennia, never have I been so lacking in activity that I would actually enjoy watching mold spread across your useless skull-cage."

"And ya just happened to feel like talking as soon as I started trying to meditate, right?"

"A coincidence I assure you. It's inconceivable that I would ever want to interrupt you when you're busy with the trivial hairless ape nonsense that you little cretins get up to when you need to waste your absurdly short lives."

"Jackass."

"Insect."

"Seriously though, shut it. I need to do this whole meditation thing if I want to get stronger, and unless you want to go and send us back in time again because we died again because you interrupted me again, then you'll stop bothering me."

"Would it not be considerably easier to just rely on my power?"

"The last time 'I just relied on your power,' I got blown in half and sent back in time. Not to mention all the times you've tried to break out while I was using your chakra." It didn't' seem to pay any attention to that last part.

"Ah yes, the Uchiha. I look forward to the day we finally meet again. We have…words…to exchange."

"You shouldn't. Last time, that freakish eye of his made you damn near useless."

"I suppose it would present a rather significant advantage for one such as him. Perhaps less so if I had any idea what happened that day." Yet another annoying problem. Despite having been the one to send them back in time, even the Kyuubi didn't seem to remember anything. Or at least it didn't remember anything too important. It often claimed to remember feelings or thoughts, but nothing especially solid.

"And besides, if this toad training is supposed to make you so powerful, why did it not help last time?"

"I, uh…I kinda didn't finish my training." That had definitely been one of the more idiotic decisions in his life. He'd only just mastered gathering the energy and learned that he couldn't even use it for more than a few minutes if he was moving when everything went to hell and he'd skipped out on the rest of his training to jump back into the fray.

"I see. And who was it that taught you these skills?"

Man, why's he so curious all of a sudden? "I learned from Fukasaku. He's one of the-"

"Toad Sages. Yes, I know of them. They're nothing compared to we tailed beasts, but they are rather impressive for lesser creatures. If nothing else, they're certainly more of a thrill to crush beneath one's feet than humans."

"Oh, and who was it that sealed you away again? Oh yeah, I remember. It was us 'weak, worthless little insects' that locked you up."

"Insolent little kit. Though I will admit some of you aren't completely useless trash. Your Fourth Hokage was as stubborn as you, and there was one clan in particular that had a talent for causing me no end of frustration." Naruto chuckled. No doubt the Kyuubi was still sore about the manipulations of the Sharingan wielders that had once used it as little more than a puppet.

"Aw shucks. You're not half bad either, Fuzzy-chan. Now quiet down. I've got meditating to do."

"Fine. If it will keep you from getting us killed again, then I shall leave you to your…this. Brat."

"And lay off the Uchiha insults, would ya?"

Hoping that the Kyuubi would do as he said, Naruto closed his eyes again, and returned to his meditative state, returning to his attempt to connect with the natural energy around him.

"I simply don't understand how you can tolerate that boy."

"Just shut up already!"

Uchiha Compound

"I don't know how you can stand that boy."

Ignoring his mother's complaints about Naruto, Sasuke rolled to the left as her fist slammed into the ground where his head had just been, cracking the hardwood floor. Slipping a kunai from his leg holster, he flung it towards her and flipped to his feet. As Mikoto leaned back to dodge it her hand shot out, catching the tip of the blade between her fingers. Sasuke had barely gotten his bearings back when his kunai came to stop at his neck, and he raised his hands in defeat. He knew well enough that at this stage he wasn't going to be able to recover from this position to defeat someone like Mikoto or Fugaku, and since he happened to be sparring with one of them he had no intention of trying.

"For an idiot, he's not that bad. He's loud, obnoxious, and he never shuts up, but I don't get why you hate him so much." She ignored him and held out his kunai, paying no attention to the frown he gave her as he plucked it from her fingers and tossed it in the air a few times before sliding it back into the holster.

"Your father should be back soon. He'll want to go over a new jutsu with you."

"You're not telling me something."

"We've already discussed this, Sasuke-kun." She let out a sigh, both of them knowing where the conversation would end. He had never really stopped hounding them about their attitudes towards the boy, and it had gotten even worse after Itachi had left. The only thing that gave them any comfort in the matter was that Sasuke didn't know any of the true details regarding Itachi's betrayal, only that he had attacked their cousin and left.

"Several times. And you still won't tell me. Why do so many people hate him?"

"You know how he acts. The rudeness, the constant pranks, the-"

"There are plenty of people as rude as him, and his pranks are mostly harmless. Hell, aren't most shinobi parents usually happy if their kids manage to get away with that kind of harmless stuff? There's got to be more to it than that."

"Just stop. Some things are better left unsaid, and this is one of them."

"Fine. I'm going to go find Father." But I will figure it out sooner or later. I don't like being lied to and all of you have been doing it for years. Leaving the training room, he prepared to go to the outdoor training grounds of the Uchiha compound more fit for Ninjutsu training than the indoor practice facilities, still pondering the reasons why one Uzumaki Naruto was so highly disliked among the residents of Konoha. He hadn't noticed when they were just children, but around four years earlier he'd started realizing that his classmate seemed to get an excessive amount of anger thrown his way, far more than his simple and childish jokes should have brought on him. What bothered him the most was that his parents, who he'd never noticed giving any real attention to the boy, had suddenly started treating him nearly the same as the rest of the villagers not long after Itachi had attacked their cousin.

There had to be a connection. It was just a matter of uncovering it…

Sunagakure

Something about her little brother was…different. Kankuro said that it was probably just the usual lust for blood kicking in at a convenient moment, but she couldn't force herself to believe it. It was just too wrong, somehow, to have only been his typical urge to slaughter.

It had just been a standard C-Rank mission for the trio. They were assigned to eliminate a small group of criminals holed up in a cave a few miles from the village that had been harassing the local traders. What they hadn't known was that several former shinobi had taken up residence in the caves as well, and seemed to specialize in using weapons laced with various types of venoms and poisons. To make it worse, their targets had been warned that they were coming and were more than prepared. Still, even with the unexpected additions to the enemy's forces and the ambush, it wouldn't have normally been anything they couldn't handle.

And then she'd nearly been hit from behind with a shuriken—had been hit by a shuriken—though it barely managed to scrape her cheek. It was pure luck that it hadn't been among the poisoned ones. She had easily been able to dodge the brunt of the attack even as distracted as she was with her own opponents. Luck or no, Gaara had made sure that it wasn't necessary to do so again. Before she'd even had the chance to attempt a counterattack, the sand he controlled with such ease had ripped the small weapon from the air and driven it into the forehead of the man who'd thrown it. After that, there was no other way to describe what had occurred next as anything but a slaughter. She and Kankuro had stood off to the side as Gaara proceeded to thoroughly butcher their opponents, slinging them into walls, impaling them on stalagmites, crushing them to death with his sand…Normally she would stand back and ignore it. It wasn't as if his little tantrums were uncommon, after all, and the best solution was to just get out of the way as fast as possible.

What made her think twice was when he'd stepped in. When their team first arrived he'd simply sat off in the shadows and watched as they fought with their enemies, only bothering to get involved when he'd been attacked directly. It was only after someone targeted her with an attack that successfully managed to scrape through her defenses, even just barely, that he'd become truly engaged in the conflict. Then there was that little out of character "thank you" earlier the previous morning, which she still couldn't figure out. He'd never thanked anyone, much less for simply delivering the Kazekage's orders.

No, she was certain that they were missing something. Kankuro probably noticed it as well, no matter what he might have said on the matter. Of course, they weren't insane enough to bring it up in front of their brother. Perhaps he really had suddenly been afflicted with some unexplainable urge to defend his siblings for once instead of watching impassively as they risked their lives. But they weren't about to tempt his wrath by questioning his actions.

As Gaara gave them a curt nod and began walking towards his room, glancing over the small trail of blood running from the cut on her cheek, she knew she was right. Something very unusual was going on with their little brother. Ignoring Kankuro's worried glance, she waited until Gaara had been out of sight for a few minutes before making a decision. Ignoring the slight burning sensation around her wound, she slowly made her way to his room. Her hand was nearly to the door when she hesitated, knowing that Gaara wasn't exactly happy when people failed to announce their presence. She turned the knob and cracked open the door, knocking lightly as she quietly called his name.

"Gaara?" She pushed it open further, and poked her head into the room. She could see him sitting down, and…writing? What would Gaara be writing? Raising her voice a little, she spoke again.

"Gaara? It's, um…It's Temari." She stepped into the room when he failed to answer and moved a little closer. Then again, considering how small his room was, "a little closer" was essentially putting her within no more than a few of feet of the easily aggravated Jinchuuriki. She moved forward until she was just barely at reaching distance, and leaned forward, stretching her hand toward him. She didn't exactly want to touch the younger boy, what with his tendency to slaughter anything that startled or annoyed him, but she couldn't deny that she was worried about her brother's odd behavior. Or maybe she was just worried that this strange attitude would lead to her or Kankuro being hurt, and she wanted to make sure he was still his normal self. And she definitely wanted to figure it out before Kankuro went and blurted out something stupid, as he was often prone to do.

She promptly drew her hand away and leaped back as the boy in front of her began to fall apart into a pile of sand, eyes widening when she bumped into something behind her. Something that spoke in a small, yet frighteningly dark voice that both her and her brother had always felt an indescribable urge to hide from.

"Did you want something?" She whirled around, cursing herself for the quick movement even as she did so, and trying desperately to stop the hammering in her heart as she realized that Gaara wasn't snapping at the sudden motion.

"G-Gaara! I just-I mean, I wanted to see if you were, uh…alright? After the mission, and all…" She trailed off before she could finish. As if Gaara was ever anything but healthy after a mission. It was a pathetic excuse, and she knew very well that it wouldn't fool her youngest brother for a second unless he was very, very distracted for some reason.

"…I'm fine." He reached toward her, and for a moment she thought he was going to make sure that she was as far from fine as she could possibly become. That same simple gesture of raising his hand had ended with more than a few mangled bodies, crushed beneath a coffin of sand. The panic began to set in…at least until his finger glided across her cheek, wiping across the small wound with uncharacteristic gentleness. "You should probably clean that. Go to the medical center. Could be poisoned too."

She felt herself being lightly pushed from the room, and turned to see the sand that they'd come to fear pulling back from her as she crossed through the threshold.

"I need some privacy."

And with that, the door was closed, and she was left wondering how she'd managed to survive entering what Gaara considered his territory, actually touching him, and having the closest thing to a conversation with him that she'd had with her youngest brother in her entire life. She'd been standing outside his door lost in her thoughts for nearly ten minutes before she finally dragged herself away and head for the medical center as per Gaara's advice, deciding not to tell Kankuro about the little incident. Knowing him he'd try to do something stupid to see if he could bond with Gaara and end up ticking him off. With or without his strange new attitude, she wasn't willing to bet that an angry Gaara would be any more pleasant to deal with than before.

Gaara, however, continued about his business. He knew very well that she was still outside his door, but the odds of his siblings coming back into his room or office when he wanted to be alone were low even when they'd had a better relationship. Now that he was back at a point in time when they were terrified to even look at him wrong, the odds were practically nonexistent.

He wrote down a few words on a small piece of paper, and molded his sand to resemble a bird. He definitely wasn't going to trust any of the human messengers in the village, nor would he trust any other form of communication that the Kazekage might be capable of tracking. He'd rarely ever used the sand to move anything a great distance, but the situation called for it. Until the Kazekage's death he'd never had any reason to send anything. After the Kazekage's death, he had no need to concern himself with others prying into his business, since they either respected him or were too terrified of Shukaku to defy his requests. Besides, with the demon present in his mind again, he would really have little else to do with his nights. Rolling up the note, he placed it in a small opening in the imitation bird and sealed it. Things would probably be better if it didn't look like anything was being delivered at all.

Naruto Uzumaki. It seems you've given us another chance. Let's hope we can make use of it.

The Next Day, Konoha…

"Well class is almost over, but I have good news. Today, we'll begin working on the basic Clone Technique. Now, first we'll review the concept behind the jutsu. The Clone Technique utilizes non-physical copies of those who use it for the sake of distraction and evasion." Iruka formed the Ram hand seal. "To do this, you begin with the Ram, which…"

Naruto's head hit the desk with a thud as he tuned out Iruka's voice, and cursed whoever had invented the technique. He never had gotten around to learning how to use the standard clones. He'd always figured it was pointless since he could create solid copies that could actually fight instead of just distract. In retrospect, he supposed that he probably should have tried to figure it out when he came back in time, with it being one of the jutsu that his class was expected to know every time the exam came around.

"What are you so upset for, Loser? It's not a hard technique. I've already been able to do it for a year now. You should be able to figure it out eventually."

"It's okay Naruto-kun. Most of us are pretty new to this, and you did pretty well on the other stuff Iruka-sensei taught us." Sakura gave him a pat on the shoulder, trying to comfort the blond as he glared at a smirking Sasuke, and trying to hide her reaction to Sasuke's claim. Which of course matched the thoughts of every other girl nearby that happened to hear what he'd said.

Sasuke is so cooool!

"Now, would anyone like to give it a try?" At the ensuing silence, Iruka sighed and turned towards their desk. "Sasuke?"

"Fine." Why do I always have to do these stupid demonstrations? It's such a waste of time. He made his way to the front of the room, and stood in front of Iruka with a scowl. He lazily went through the signs, clearly bored, and one of the intangible clones appeared to his right and left, perfect imitations of the original. Naturally, this led to cheering from the girls in the class, and a combination of grumbling, congratulations, and silence from the various boys in the class.

"Very impressive, Sasuke. You can go back to your seat." Sasuke released the illusions and returned to the desk, clasping his hands in front of him and staring off into space with a bored expression, easily ignoring the looks he was receiving from almost every girl in class.

"Wow Sasuke-kun," Sakura leaned towards him with a blush. "That was so cool."

"Wow Sasuke-kun," Naruto raised his voice, trying to imitate what he liked to call Sakura's "lovey dovey" voice. "That was soooo cooool. I know you're a stuck-up, arrogant jackass, but I'd love it if you'd give me a private lesion on how to-" He was cut off as his he was pushed from his chair, and gulped as he saw the enraged pink-haired girl glaring at him.

"Naruto, you little…!"

"Excuse me, but is there a problem?" Iruka's voice called from the front of the class.

"Oh, no Iruka-sensei! Everything's great!" And glad as he was that Iurka had spoken up before she'd managed to pummel him into the ground again, the blatantly-fake grin that Sakura was forcing made it quite clear that he was going to be in major trouble later. Not that she'd ever actually hurt him even before his little time trip, but frankly, she could be downright terrifying at times. Naruto took a glance over at Sasuke and frowned.

And that smug little bastard loves it.

"If there's no problem, then I think we're done here today. Remember to practice the Clone Technique tonight, and I'll see you all tomorrow." As Iruka left the room, Naruto felt a sense of impending doom.

Oh boy. "…H-hey, Sakura-chan. What's up?"

"Naruto-kun." She said in a voice that was far too sweet. "A word, if you please. Alone."

"Um, y'know, I'm not sure if that's-"

"Oh come on, Sakura." Ino walked up beside him, grabbing his arm. "He's treating me to lunch. If you're gonna kill him, at least wait until he's paid for it."

"Oh, okay. But don't take too long. We were meeting at your place, right?"

"Yeah. I'll see you in a little while." Waving goodbye, Ino dragged him from the room in a hurry.

"Thanks, Ino. I think. So, ramen then?"

"Yes, we can go have ramen." Her grip on his arm tightened, almost cutting off his circulation in the limb. "And let's try to avoid making fun of Sasuke-kun in the future, hm?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" With that, it was suddenly Naruto who was doing the dragging. And with Naruto on the path to ramen, the run barely took any time at all. Within minutes, they were sitting on the stools at the counter of Ichiraku Ramen, with a clearly-pleased Teuchi standing behind the counter to greet his favorite customer.

"Hey, Naruto! And the junior Yamanaka, it's good to see you. How's your mother been lately? Had a little bug last time I saw her."

"She's been much better lately, Teuchi-san."

"So, you two gonna have the usual?" Sure, maybe usual wasn't the best word to use in Ino's case since she wasn't there that often, but Naruto most definitely had a usual. And that usual was generally expensive enough so that he'd be able to close down for the rest of the day if he felt like it. Especially given that Naruto's portion of said dish was about three times bigger than the normal version everyone else usually stuck with.

"Heck yeah, old man!"

"That sounds fine."

"Oh c'mon Ino-chan, you've gotta eat more than that. It's not like the stuff's bad, y'know." Teuchi set a few bowls in front of them with a grin, apparently having already expected Naruto to show up. And since he had a tendency to get one of everything, it wasn't too hard to get Ino's prepared. The two ate in relative silence for a few minutes, before Ino decided to continue the conversation.

"It's not that it's bad. Heck, it's excellent. But it's just got so much sodium and fat that it's not good for my diet."

"Oh please. You girls make no sense. It's always 'diet this' and 'diet that.' I'm surprised you haven't all starved to death by now. I mean it's-"

"Actually," Teuchi cut into the conversation. "I'm working on a recipe that really cuts down on fats and sodium and that kind of thing. Figured it might help broaden my customer range, y'know?"

Both of the blondes seemed to brighten up at this, and Teuchi smiled. He was glad that the kid had made some friends over the years, but most of the few girls he seemed to spend time with were obsessed with their figures, and while it was delicious, he knew most ramen wasn't exactly famous for being the pinnacle of health food. Now, if Naruto had a few more friends like that Choji fellow, Teuchi was pretty sure he and his daughter would be set for life. Uzumaki Naruto and Akimichi Choji…that was a duo that could empty the whole stand in a single sitting.

"Really? That sounds great! Because I'd really like to have it more oft-" Ino glanced over as she noticed the squinty-eyed grin that had appeared on Naruto's face. "What? What's with the freaky look?"

"You love ramen."

"It's not my favorite, but it's definitely good."

"You're a ramaniac."

"A what now?"

"I've converted another one! Soon the whole world will know the greatness that is ramen!" He almost seemed to speak to the bowl in front of him.

"Soon, my precious little friend, soon!" Naruto rubbed his hands together with a semi-maniacal cackle, and the unfading grin that she and Sakura had dubbed his "fox grin."

And promptly found himself face-first in his bowl of ramen, as Ino glared at him.

"You can be so creepy, Naruto. Ramen is good and all, but you take it to a whole new level." Naruto just grinned at her again, slurping up a stray noodle that'd attached itself to his face.

"You know you guys love me."

"Hell if I can figure out why." She set her finished bowl down and stood, bowing politely to Teuchi. "Thank you very much, it was delicious."

Smiling, she turned to Naruto. "Thanks for the lunch Naruto, but I have to go. Sakura and I were going to go-"

"Stalk the pretty-boy to see if you can catch 'em alone in a closet somewhere?"

"W-what! Of course not!" Maybe a little. She lightly smacked him in the back of the head with a blush. "I was just going to help her arrange some flowers for her mother's birthday! Get your mind out of the gutter, you little pervert!"

"Well, if ya gotta go, then you've gotta go. Later Ino-chan." She gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair playfully.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Just minutes after she'd left, as Naruto was getting into yet another bowl, he jumped in surprise when a small sandy-brown bird landed on the counter. He was far more surprised when the bird burst into sand, revealing a small note amongst the remains, and Teuchi looked over at him in curiosity.

"Hm? What's that? Looks like a letter." Teuchi grinned prodded his arm with a spoon. "Got yourself a girlfriend, kid?"

"Wha? No, no. Nothin' like that. Sorry old man, but I gotta go. Mind if I pay ya back tomorrow?"

"Nah, go on." He shook his head with a laugh as Naruto took off. He didn't know what the letter was about, but it must've been important to the kid for him to take off like he did. Plus, Naruto was his favorite customer. He was always good for his word when it came to money, even if it took him a little while to actually make the payment.

After rushing back to his apartment, Naruto unfolded the small note, and began reading it to himself.

"I remember everything, Uzumaki Naruto. But we should limit our communication. It is…good…to hear from you again. Gaara."

Okay, so maybe he didn't actually write the pauses, but Naruto had known the man for long enough to realize that he'd probably be uncomfortable with the whole "expressing himself" thing. Unable to hold back a grin, Naruto let out a quick cheer, glad to know that Gaara had apparently remembered their past, or future, or whatever they wanted to call it.

Remembering the future. Man, it still feels weird to say that. He folded the letter and placed it in his left pocket, already trying to figure out what he could do now that he wasn't completely alone in this little adventure in the past.

AN: Nothing new to add since yesterday's rewrite was posted. Hope you enjoyed.