3

Naruto made his way slowly to his home, enjoying the smiles of the people who'd not yet noticed him. There were a few people who had seen him, and he firmly tried to ignore them, but it hurt to see the hateful glances he was so unused to now. Nevertheless, he was glad to see the villagers well and alive, and glad to see Konoha in one piece, unharmed as of yet from the attack from Pein.

He didn't think too deeply on his situation for the moment, but rather, he focused on his surroundings, and how awkward his limbs felt. He just knew it would be a long while before he got this body into working order. Not to mention his pitiful excuse for chakra reserves.

So absorbed was he in his musings, he didn't see the small form running in front of him until he was hit by it, it's shoulder solidly hitting Naruto's gut. The blond stepped back in surprise and put a hand to his stomach, catching the breath the impact knocked from him. He glanced down at the boy, who, he reminded himself, was not much younger than he himself was now. The short brunette's face was becoming red; whether from becoming mad after being knocked down or from embarrassment over the fact, he couldn't be sure.

"Oi!" Anger, then. "Watch where you're going!"

Naruto's eyebrow rose elegantly from years of habit. It probably looked out of place on his childish face; he'd have to work on that later. "You were the one running." He stated.

Konohamaru gaped at him, his mouth opening and closing quite few times before he found the words to speak with. "Who do you think you are? I am the Hokage's grandson! You don't have the right to-!" Konohamaru was interrupted as Naruto cuffed him on the ear. The boy was so surprised that he lost his balance and pitched forward to land flat on his face.

When Konohamaru looked up to snap at him, he saw the look on Naruto's face and jerked back, cowed. There was a look of mixed emotions on the blond's face. Traces of amusement, irritation, confusion, and happiness danced back and forth openly across his face, but most outstanding was a deep, unbroken sense of grief that hid underneath it all.

Now, Konohamaru wasn't usually the perceptive type, but he could read the look easily enough. And it scared him. He listened very quietly and very carefully when Naruto spoke to him, the blond's voice sounding too old for his apparent age.

"…Listen up. You don't have the right to tell me what I can or cannot say or do. I don't care who you are, Konohamaru. You are what you prove yourself to be to me, and, right now, in my eyes, you're just a snot-nosed brat who can't do anything but hide behind his grandpa's name." The blond growled out.

There was silence for several moments. Konohamaru stared at the blond. He'd told him all of that smoothly and fearlessly, uncaring of his title, grandson of the Sandaime hokage. Nor had the small brunette missed the fact that Naruto had used his name, something Konohamaru had neglected to tell him.

In the silence caused by his own statement, Naruto studied the boy. And there it was. A familiar hunger in Konohamaru's eyes, one that Naruto did not miss, a hunger so like his own. A hunger for recognition. Recognition of his own abilities, not of any title or because of someone else.

"Who are you?" came Konohamaru's whispered question, a form of respect and a question for forgiveness all at once.

"Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki." He shut his mouth with a snap. That was how he'd introduced himself…before. He couldn't say he was related to Minato Namikaze anymore. No one knew he was the fourth's son in this time. Thankfully, Konohamaru didn't recognize it. Naruto had accepted his apology just by not walking away from him.

"Are you a full-fledged ninja, Uzumaki-san?" the brunette asked, thankfully using his latter surname, noting Naruto's hitai-ate headband and trying to ignore the fact that he'd just been lectured by this same person not moments before.

"Naruto, just call me Naruto and, yes, I am." Naruto said, still feeling pride in the fact, even though he'd been a ninja for years. For all the happiness it'd given him.

Konohamaru's eyes lit up. "That's so cool! I can't wait until I'm a ninja. I'll take over as the Hokage when gramps steps down!"

Naruto was silent for a moment. He remembered how their rivalry had been so important to Konohamaru, but he himself no longer pined over the position of hokage, he only wanted to fix everything. But, no, he couldn't just leave his new (although, really, they'd been friends for a long while in his own time) friend be. He'd needed their friendship just as much as Konohamaru had. He momentarily wondered if fate was playing with him, allowing him to go back only to make him relive all his experiences in a different manner.

He plastered a cocky smile on his face. "You'll have to get through me first. 'Hokage' is my title."

Konohamaru blinked at him, and then he grinned. They were definitely friends now, Naruto could tell. "Then we'll be rivals, Naruto." The blond grinned back at him, remembering similar conversations between the two of them.

"Nah….You can just take my place when I'm done with it. I'll even teach you into the position. How's that sound?" He chuckled at Konohamaru's sour look.

"Not a chance! I'll definitely beat you!"

"You'll have to become a ninja first." He pointed out. The brunette flushed and pouted before darting off in the direction he'd been heading originally, Hokage Tower, shouting all the way: "I'll beat you, you'll see!"

Naruto laughed under his breath then continued on his own route with a new thought reeling in his mind. He wouldn't pretend anymore. He wouldn't act the fool; he'd make his name something other people could hear and appreciate. It'd happened eventually in his own time- when he'd defeated Pein- but, by then, it was too late. Many of the people on Konoha had died because he couldn't do anything, because he hadn't done anything. But now…

No, now he wouldn't be pretending. He would be lying. To him, it was a significant difference. He hadn't known better the first time around, trying to protect himself. This time, he knew his options. He would be choosing to lie. He was playing a dangerous game.

Any enemies he made could easily frame him if they found out he was manipulating missions and people of his own initiative without specific orders from the Hokage to do so. He'd be labeled as a traitor, regardless of whether what he did benefitted the village. If that point came, though, he wouldn't allow them to arrest him. Although he loved his village, he'd had enough of the foolish laws of Konoha. He'd likely become a rogue ninja, a missing Nin. He'd be hunted until he proved his innocence, which he wouldn't be able to do because he wasn't innocent of the charges. His team wouldn't ever forgive him.

But he could live with it if he could protect what he needed to.

xXx

Naruto returned to his home around noon. He'd stopped by a shop whose owner had been somewhat kind to him at this age to buy some cleaning chemicals and some healthy food, not to mention, fresh milk. He'd also bought a new black shirt and a pair of what he thought would be comfortable training pants. Whatever had possessed him to wear all orange in the first place escaped him.

His living room was just as he remembered it. Just as messy, too. There were half-empty ramen bowls lying everywhere, right next to piles of dirty clothes and open books and scattered scrolls. Taking one look at the mess made his stomach turn. He'd become somewhat OCD over the years, so he couldn't understand how he had ever been this bad at keeping his home clean. For Kami's sake, he'd been living by himself since before he was six! He decided he'd start in the kitchen and work his way out. Naruto walked through a doorway to his left and put the bags of food and chemicals down on a semi-cleared area of the counter.

The kitchen wasn't much better than the living room, but at least the trash can was in there. He pulled the large canister out from below the sink and started dumping instant ramen bowls into it. Just doing that cleared over half the Kitchen's counter and floor space. Why had he loved those noodles again? Oh, right, they didn't cost much.

He started pulling his newly purchased food out of the bags and, after rearranging the pantry (which was more than full of instant ramen) and meticulously sanitizing his small fridge (more ramen, however, why it had been in the fridge, he didn't know), he put them all away. He put most of the chemicals away as well; he wouldn't need them for a little while anyway. When he stepped back to admire his work, he was rather satisfied with the job he'd done. The counters were all sparkling clean with no food on them at all and the floor could be seen under his feet.

The rest of his day was spent doing the same makeover throughout his small home, stacking scrolls and books into a bookcase in his room, scrubbing the floors free of dirt that had piled up over months of non-cleaning, and, of course, throwing away ramen bowls his younger self had never bothered to pick up. Maybe this time, when Kakashi and Gramps decided to make a surprise visit while he was away, which he remembered Kakashi telling him about when he was older, they wouldn't be greeted by such an embarrassing mess. How he could ever stand it before was a complete and utter mystery. It was probably just a part of being the hated demon kid; no one really cared if you cleaned up after yourself or not. But this work was somewhat relaxing and he planned to concentrate fully on it until he was more confident he could handle thinking of other things.

By the time he had finished cleaning everything it was beginning to get dark outside. He went into the kitchen and made a quick meal of fruit and bread before eating it while he stood at the counter. After finishing his meal, he made a quick check around the kitchen. Remembering something, he opened the fridge door. Seeing immediately what he was searching for, Naruto quickly threw away the expired milk in the fridge. It wouldn't do for him to have to run back and forth to the bathroom all day tomorrow because of spoiled milk. Kami, he couldn't believe he'd done that the first time; that had been beyond embarrassing. And how he'd impersonated Sasuke…

Any and all traces of exhaustion disappeared as Naruto made his way to the small shower that connected to his room. He'd see Sasuke tomorrow, after they took their pictures for the ninja records that Konoha kept on each graduate and ninja joining Konoha's ranks. Sasuke was alive and well in this time. Naruto had a second chance and he wasn't going to botch it up. He smiled widely at his reflection.

Naruto wondered what the Teme would do when he didn't act like the idiot he had been back at the academy. Or what he and Sakura had thought today when they heard Iruka-sensei announce him to be a part of their team when they thought he'd failed the graduation test. Naruto would have gone, but, as he had told the Hokage, Kakashi and Iruka the night before, he hadn't been quite ready to do anything today. Not only did he want to mentally get used to being back in this time, but he also wanted to begin to get used to a child's body once again; he was still tipsy when he tried to do anything other than walk, jog, or run slowly, but he hoped he would get used to it after a little training. He'd have to get used to acting like a child, too, as well as remembering what he could and could not say. His mistake in introducing himself to Konohamaru was not the worst mistake he could have made, but it certainly had potential. There were people who still remembered the name of the Fourth Hokage, and not all of them were benevolent.

The teams would meet their sensei tomorrow in their old classroom at 9:00 am, or at least that's what he'd heard an academy teacher telling someone at the store he'd visited earlier. Though the store owner sold to Naruto, he still wasn't welcomed there nearly as much as at Ichiraku Ramen. He wanted to get some things done the next morning, so he planned on taking his shower and going to sleep early.

He turned the hot water of the shower on along with a little cold so it didn't burn him when he stepped into it. Slowly pulling off his shirt, he hissed as the fabric pulled away from the scabs of some fresh cuts on his back. He'd forgotten about them, hell, hadn't even felt them because his pain tolerance had been so high even at this age.

He'd have to be more careful when going out at night until he got more used to this body. The beatings from the villagers had gotten so bad when he was this age that he hadn't been able to go out at nighttime at all. Then, the lower ranking ninja had joined in. Thankfully the higher ranking ninja had deigned it beneath themselves to beat a child (although most hadn't even known about it), even if it was the demon carrier. He would have died before he'd ever become a ninja if they hadn't.

He pulled the mirror away from the wall and reached inside the hidden medicine cabinet to get a small jar of healing cream. He set it on the sink, summoned a clone without too much effort, although the chakra depletion made him light-headed for a second, and handed the jar to him. The clone rubbed the cream along four long jagged cuts on his back. They were red and swelling, but the cream helped to relieve some of the pain. Once the clone was done, Naruto dispelled it and stepped out of his disgustingly orange sweat pants and black boxers and into the shower.

The cream was a special type that was supposed to be used while under a spray of water, so it wouldn't wash away. Instead, the water actually helped it seep into the skin around the wounds and heal them faster. It was a tincture of his own invention, made when he'd been trying to find a mixture of herbs he could pick in the forest surrounding Konoha that he could use to heal the evidence of his beatings. Although he and she had spoken, Kyuu hadn't been able to heal wounds larger than a scratch when he was younger because her chakra had been almost completely sealed until the mission to Kirigakure.

He'd not wanted anything to keep him back from the title of hokage, especially not evidence of abuse that could cause him to be mentally unstable, so he'd used the plants he'd learned about at the academy and had created, from scratch, the tincture to minimize the scarring and heal him faster. Pretty damn smart for a seven year old with no parental figures, he thought. Whoever said he wasn't listening in class?

He picked up an unmarked bottle that he remembered was shampoo he'd made from some scented herbs in the forest. He couldn't remember exactly what they were, though. He'd have to look around his apartment; he knew he'd written the recipe for the shampoo he'd made somewhere. What? It smelled good!

He ran his hair under the constant stream of water and squeezed a little of the shampoo from the bottle into his hand. He returned the bottle to the shelf on the wall of the shower and rubbed the shampoo into his hair, working the dirt from the forest out of it along with the sweat of the past twelve or so hours. After rinsing it from his hair completely, he grabbed a bar of soap and quickly washed the rest of his body, having felt the water begin to grow cold.

By the time he stepped out of the shower, he was shivering and he snatched the towel from the bar on the wall, speed dried and walked not unhurriedly to the old beat-up dresser in his room, which was pushed up against the wall to the left of the bathroom doorway, on the opposite side of the room as the bed. Naruto pulled on a pair of almost-too-small pajama bottoms, but he left his chest bare. Still drying his hair, he grabbed his tooth brush from where he'd apparently left it the last time he'd used it, on his bedside table, and walked back into the fogged-up bathroom. He took his toothpaste out and brushed his teeth before hanging the towel he'd used back on the bar on the wall and retreating from the stuffy bathroom to his bedroom.

He tried to keep his thoughts focused on what was going to happen soon, what he was going to do, what he was going to say, but his mind kept going back to his past. He'd managed to focus on all the little menial before-bed rituals, but now that he had nothing else to do, the thoughts were converging on him. He was almost afraid to sleep for fear of what his own mind may do to him, but he'd had to sleep through such thoughts during the war. He knew how to coax himself into a dreamless sleep, but it wasn't that that scared him so much at the moment. It was what went through his mind just before he managed to make his restless imagination and memory quiet. It wasn't just Sasuke's death that had earned itself an honored spot in the darkest corners of his mind. That fact was what scared him.

Kyuubi tried to calm him before he went to sleep most nights, and although her efforts were rarely successful, she never stopped trying. He was in the midst of a conversation with her as he pulled back the covers to his bed.

You don't have to worry about that anymore, Kit. None of it. We can fix it all now. We could even save, what were their names? Oh, right, Zabuza and Haku. I know you were especially fond of the ice user. He was quite kind to you.

That was only because he didn't know what I was. Naruto answered her, stubbornly refusing the idea. His childhood, no matter how many friends he'd made in his lifetime, always came back to him, making him adamant in the belief that no one could possibly like him if they'd known what he was.

That's not true, Kit. Remember? He didn't care even after he found out you had a demon's powers. He only recognized you as the stronger fighter. And what about the Fifth Hokage, and Iruka and Kakashi?

Naruto sighed. I know, I know. You're right. It's just…I think this time is starting to get to me. Bad memories, you know?

Kyuu growled. Of course. I had to sit here and watch what these bastards did to you just because your father sacrificed you for the good of the village. These people are fools! None of them even realized you could have been a chuunin when you were nine. I think Jiraiya was the only one who ever actually fully realized the true extent of what you knew.

Shush, Kyuu. You're making me sound like a damn genius. The only reason I knew so much was because I studied so much. I didn't-couldn't-spend time with other kids my age, so I just spent a lot of time in the library and training on my own. Plus, if you'll remember, I did a rather good job making myself look the idiot.

I know, but it is irritating that they couldn't see past even a child's mask. That they didn't care to. That they couldn't see your potential.

No, actually, quite a few of the older ninja were aware of my potential. They were quite afraid of it, too, if I remember correctly. I think it was Danzou who tried to get me locked up, wasn't it? Ah! That reminds me. That old bastard is still alive in this time. We'll have to find a way to get rid of him. With that happy thought, Naruto yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes and blew out the candle that lit his room so that he sat in his bed in pitch darkness. It didn't take too long for his eyes to get used to the dark, thanks to Kyuu's demonic powers, which had enhanced nearly all his senses.

I agree. But that is for tomorrow. Sleep now, Kit. I will ward off your dreams as best I can.

All right, but make sure to get some rest, too. I know you're still tired after that jutsu.

I will, Kit. Goodnight.

'night.

Naruto fell asleep easily for the first time in ages, not even needing a dreamless sleep as he dreamt of the future. A future without the deaths of any of his precious people. Kyuu happily joined him once she was sure her host's dreams were sweet.