Hi~ Here is the second chapter! I actually had all of this written out already when I posted the first chapter but everyday it seemed like I was going back and changing things so I held off on posting it till now. And I also have another thing to comment about this chapter but I'll wait till the end to say it so you'll under what I'm talking about. So for now enjoy!
No POV
Once Naruto got near Sakura's house he flared his chakra just enough so only she could feel it. Seconds later a pink form appeared from the top window of the house and jumped down to Naruto.
They both silently continued to Shikamaru's next flaring their chakra slightly until the Nara lazily appeared next to them. Since they knew Sasuke lived alone in the huge Uchiha manor it was the perfect place to have the meeting. By the time they reached the Uchiha's house he was already waiting on his back porch.
"So tomorrow we become genin huh." Naruto broke the silence first.
"Yeah. Funny when you think about it. We're all at either Kage or Sannin level about to take a genin test." Sakura's eyes glazed over as she reminisced the past.
"So what are our plans?" Sasuke asked
"It's best to keep the fact that we're from the future from everyone. If we must tell then we will but the less people who know the better." Naruto explained.
"Does that mean we'll have to act the way we did when we were 12?" The pink haired girl asked hesitantly. Just thinking about acting like a boy-crazed fangirl again made her cringe.
"It'll be troublesome but yes I agree with Ruto on that. The more people who know we're from the future, the more likely the future will change. In fact, it's probably already changed with us just being here. But if we're going to try and prevent our future from happening then we have to try and make sure the future stays as close to our timeline as possible. The more predictable it is the easier it will be to change it for the better." Shikamaru explained
"Then if possible we should probably say and act out the same things we did back then. So Naruto you should fail the genin exam like you did before… Actually how did you become a genin? You never did tell us the story." Sakura asked
"Oh that hehe. Well after I failed the test that bastard Mizuki came and tricked me. He told me that if I stole the forbidden scroll of seals I would pass. Back then I was naïve and desperate so when he told me I had a second chance, I took it and believed him even though the lie was so farfetched. It was one of the worst and best days of my life…"
Everyone listened closely while Naruto's looked off into the distance recounting the memory.
"That night after I stole the scroll I only managed to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow clone jutsu) until Iruka-sensei found me. Right after, Mizuki appeared and revealed to me that I was a jinchuuriki. The hate-filled glared, the whispers calling me a monster, it all made sense after that. I felt like my world had come crashing down. But it was then that Iruka-sensei woke me up from that nightmare. He saved me from myself. If not for him I probably would've ended up like Gaara before he changed. Iruka-sensei protected me and told me that I wasn't the Kyuubi but Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto smiled remembering Iruka's words. "After that I kicked Mizuki's butt and Iruka-sensei passed me!"
There was a long silence until Shikamaru spoke up.
"…Wow. I had no idea all of that happened and when you were still so young."
"But I can't believe Mizuki did that! To think he would target you!" Once the story sunk in, Sakura was furious that Mizuki hurt the one she considers her brother.
Judging from the expressions of the others, they thought the same thing.
"Well it wasn't so bad. I mean because of that I was able to learn about the big furball for the first time." The group was astounded by how optimistic their yellow haired friend could be.
"You're too optimistic dobe." Sasuke just shook his head.
"Hey! Well then you're too pessimistic!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at his rival.
"Alright you too! Don't start!" Sakura was already cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner.
"Uhhh… Oh yeah! I forgot to mention this but I don't know if any of you noticed yet but when I got home today I went to use a protection seal and completely destroyed my table in the process." The future Hokage explained trying to change the subject.
"Really? Now that you mention it, when I punched you before at the memorial stone I only meant to send you flying a foot or so but ended up sending you into the tree." Sakura admitted.
"Wow that's surprising considering your perfect chakra control." Sasuke said.
"Hm. I guess since we have almost triple the amount of chakra we did when we were this age, our bodies aren't used to it so as a result we pretty much have zero percent chakra control. Mendokuse (So troublesome)." Shikamaru muttered
"Greeaaat. So that means we have to go back to square one in chakra control exercises." Naruto said dejectedly.
"Well it will give us something to do. I mean we don't have to worry much until the Chuunin exam but considering we aren't even Genin yet, we still have a lot of time." Sasuke said in a bored tone
"What about Zabuza and Haku?" Sakura asked.
Naruto perked up at this. "Oh yeah! We have to do something this time around! I won't have them dying this time!" A new flame of determination burned in the Rokudaime's eyes.
"We'll deal with that when the time comes but until then we should discuss more on what we are going to do these next few weeks." Shikamaru reasoned.
"Weren't we done? I thought we were just going to act and do the same we did in the past?" The pink haired girl questioned.
"Yes but we should go over exactly how to act because as you know we've changed. We should make sure we remember exactly how we acted during this time." Shikamaru pointed out.
Naruto started off. "Okay well I had a short attention span so I never did well in class and I always spoke before I thought. I was also loud and rambunctious."
"You still are dobe."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Naruto said sarcastically. Although Naruto still does act like that occasionally, he had toned down greatly since the war started. It was really only to his closest friends that he let loose but other than that he was calm and collected and overall the perfect Hokage.
"I craved attention so it became a hobby of mine to pull pranks. Oh I also had a huge crush on Sakura and considered Sasuke as my ultimate rival." Naruto finished with that.
"Haha! Yeah you did have a crush on me for the longest time. For me I was an extreme fangirl to Sasuke and cared more about boys and my looks than I did becoming a shinobi. I was extremely book smart but had no physical strength." Sakura made a face as she went over how she was during this time.
After Sakura went Sasuke. "I was the rookie of the year so both my written and physical scores were top of the class. I was also the last Uchiha survivor so the council favored me. I didn't speak much to anyone and kept to myself because I thought I was too ahead of everyone else and refused to let anyone drag me down and get it my way for my revenge."
"Yeah you basically acted like you had a stick up your ass. Haha! Okay last is Shika." Naruto passed the conversation to Shikamaru before Sasuke could refute.
"I was lazy and didn't have any motivation to really do anything. I really only hung out with Chouji before being teamed up with Ino. I didn't really stick out much at the academy. I slept in class a lot but still aced every test but my taijutsu was terrible." The Nara explained
"Okay that was easy! But the hard part is going to be acting it all out. After hearing us all say how we acted, I really can't see ourselves act that way anymore." Naruto's face darkened somewhat thinking about everyone's changes.
Naruto aside, everyone really did change over the years. Sakura had become a full-fledged shinobi after the Chuunin exam. She went from obsessed fangirl to the strong-willed powerful medic ninja she is today. Sasuke really changed for the better. After he became blinded by his revenge on Konoha for his brother, he realized revenge would truly get him nowhere. Naruto was able to fulfill his promise by opening Sasuke's eyes. The path of revenge only lead him to eternal hatred and loneliness. But Naruto was willing to follow him to the depths of this self-created hell to show him love and friendship that he had long ago driven away. Now he is more open to his emotions, especially to Naruto and Sakura. They are his family and he would never again betray them. Shikamaru on the other hand had gotten more serious and active. During war times there was no time to be lazy or carefree if you wanted to survive and protect your friends. He became a master at forming strategies and was the mind behind their war tactics.
"War can really change someone…" Everyone could see their Hokage eyes filled with regret, blaming himself for the war and quickly took action.
"Ruto. Of course war will change people. War causes nothing but suffering and regret. There is no true winner in war because something is always lost. If you keep blaming yourself for what happened I am going to seriously be angry." Shikamaru threatened.
"War is caused by greed and power hungry driven people and it's so easy to get lost in all of it. If not for your selflessness we could've ended up like those people." Sasuke added.
"No matter how bad it got you always stayed brave and gave us courage. You were our sun. Even when we were lost in our own despair you always outshined the darkness in our hearts and gave us hope." Sakura said seriously.
Naruto gazed at the full moon and starry sky for a bit and when he looked back at his closest friends he had a light smile on his face. His eyes were filled with warmth from his friend's no… family's words.
Seeing this, the mood immediate lightened up and Sakura got up stretched her arms.
"Well I think that's enough serious talk for one night. We still have to wake up for school tomorrow and I need to have time to mentally prepare myself to act like a crazed fangirl."
"Haha! That's true. Good luck Sa-su-ke~" Naruto teased.
"Hn great now we'll all have to listen to your obnoxious self all over again."
"…Hey how do you think it'll be?" Naruto asked out of the blue. Everyone paused as they were getting ready to head out.
"What do you mean?" The Nara asked.
Naruto looked up with a somber look. "I mean although I know we are in the past but the last time I saw everyone was either at their funeral or on the battle field dead." Near the end of the war it was a constant warzone that there was no time to hold funerals. Everyone was dying within seconds apart from each other that Konoha ended up just being one huge graveyard.
A flash of understanding passed through everyone's eyes as they glanced at each other.
"That's true. I think it will be hard at first to look at them straight in the eyes without seeing them on their deathbeds but that is why we're here. To protect them from the horrid fate they all experienced and prevent their deaths. What we've experienced is all behind us now." Sakura said.
Naruto was silent for a while until he stretched and stood up from his spot on the porch. "You're right. I guess I'm still too caught up in the past…or future…or whatever it is."
"Well I'm going to go home now. Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow!" Sakura said as she kissed her three precious people on the cheek and shushined away.
"Goodnight guys, I wish you all good luck!" Naruto said as he hugged everyone and also shushined away.
Shikamaru turned to Sasuke. "I know you'll do this regardless but watch over Naruto will you? We both know what he's been through but I know out of all of us you are the only one who can truly connect to him the way he needs."
The Uchiha looked at the Nara straight in the eye and said seriously, "I will follow him to the end of the world whether he wants me to or not. Never again will I betray him."
Shikamaru stared at Sasuke and seeing the pure dedication showing in his eyes, he just smirked and slouched lazily.
"Yeah I know. I just wanted to reiterate. And you should also listen to Sakura's advice and not live in our past. What you did in the past was unforgivable and unlike Naruto I didn't forgive you right away but you have long ago earn my wholehearted trust. When you first came back I didn't object because of Naruto but I was ready to kill you if you had shown disloyalty. But now I consider you my family as I do Naruto and Sakura. Don't be too hard on yourself." Shikamaru gave Sasuke a brotherly hug and just before he shushined away he heard a faint 'Thank you' and smiled.
It was the first morning since the time travelers came back to the past and they were all getting ready to go to the academy and face the friends they had lost. Naruto wore his bright orange jumpsuit feeling a little off without his hitai-ate. He quickly ate cup ramen and headed out. Sakura woke up earlier than she did when she was twelve so she could eat a proper breakfast. Her parents were surprised because last time they tried to get her to eat breakfast she had yelled at them saying they were trying to make her fat. Shikamaru on the other hand couldn't help but think how troublesome everything is. Unlike the others, Shikamaru has to worry about his parents becoming suspicious of him, especially his dad. After all, Nara's are famed for their intellect and ability to perceive the littlest things. If Shikamaru acted even a bit out of character then his parents would be able to pick it up instantly. Because of this, the young Nara made sure to sleep in until he was forced out of bed by his mother not forgetting to add in his catchphrase of how troublesome it was. (Shikamaru had grown accustom to waking up early and being a light sleeper as a survivor method during war). At the Uchiha manor, Sasuke got up and wore his usual outfit. It felt weird to wear his blue high colored shirt and arm warmers after going so long without it. Not only that but he felt bare without his sword and usual weapons.
/*~*/
While Sakura is walking to school she sees Ino up ahead. Just seeing her back is enough to make her eyes water slightly. The last time she saw her childhood best friend was when she had been pierced in the chest protecting her. She had been so focused on trying to heal everyone she didn't see the white Zetsu clone coming until Ino was already in front of her taking the hit instead.
~*~ Flashback ~*~
Sakura was kneeling down beside a Suna-nin trying to heal a bad gash on his leg when suddenly she heard a shout.
"Sakura look out!"
She turned around just in time to see her lifelong rival and childhood best friend pierced in the chest by one of the white Zetsu clones protecting her. Ino coughed up blood and sank to her knees barely conscious and fell onto her back.
Sakura was in complete shock and could only whisper, "Why?" while tears started falling continuously but Sakura made no move to stop them. She knew that the damage to Ino's heart was too much and there was no hope in trying to heal her.
Ino just smiled. "Heh. You're still such a cry baby Sakura. Looks like we can't continue our rivalry anymore…so for once…I'll…let…you…win…" By the end of her sentence Ino started to get breathless and eventually couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and died just like that.
~*~ End of flashback ~*~
Ino's death was a big hit Sakura so now it's her turn to protect her.
Taking a deep breath Sakura runs past Ino intentionally bumping her shoulder and yells, "HA YOU'RE SO SLOW INO-PIG! I'm gonna get to sit next to Sasuke-kun today!"
Sakura smiles as she hears Ino run to catch up to her. "Ha in your dreams Crybaby-Sakura!"
Pretending to be mad, Sakura speeds up just past Ino and eventually both are speeding down the road trying to get to the classroom first. Of course Sakura makes sure to match Ino's pace and eventually both end up in the classroom.
"Ha! I was first!" Sakura yells.
"Yeah right! I was first!" Ino yells back
"My toe was a centimeter ahead of yours!" Sakura intentionally makes a scene as she did when she was younger.
In the classroom Sasuke and Shikamaru were already there. In the past, Sasuke usually came early to avoid fangirls and Shikamaru usually came early to sleep.
/
Currently Sasuke was in his usual seat with his head propped up by his hands glaring at nothing with his past 'avenger' eyes. At this Sakura couldn't stop the short flashback of the painful memory when Sasuke left the village because of those eyes. But everything was washed away when Sasuke flashed Sakura a small smile only she could see, his eyes filled with playfulness and also of understanding. Sakura responded with a bright smile and a slight blush of embarrassment for letting something in the past bother her. She knew Sasuke understood this and that's why he let his act slip for the millisecond to show that he'll never have those eyes again.
Sakura decided to use her embarrassed blush to her advantage and walked up to the Uchiha in a pretend shy manner and purposefully spoke in a soft shy voice.
"Um Sasuke-kun. Would it—I mean if it's okay with you—May I maybe sit next to you?"
Sakura mentally applauded herself for her acting abilities. She made sure to avoid eye contact and fidgeted as an act of nervousness while talking to her supposed crush.
"Move it Forehead! I was here first so I'm gonna sit next to Sasuke!" Ino pushed Sakura to the side trying to get to the seat first.
After that chaos happened. Suddenly almost every girl present started arguing who was first and therefore should get to sit next to the famous Uchiha.
Sasuke mentally sighed at the commotion. He forgot how annoying all the fangirls were. He turned to see what Shikamaru was doing just to see him feign sleeping with his head buried in his arms on the desk.
Seeing this Sasuke got an idea. He discreetly pulled out a small senbon needle he had put in his arm warmers earlier this morning. With a small flick of his wrist the needle was sent flying towards Shikamaru at a speed to fast for anyone to see. Hanging out with Naruto and his prankster self was rubbing off onto him.
However, as soon as the needle got within a few centimeters from the 'sleeping' boys head the needle vanished. To the common eye it looked as if Shikamaru hadn't moved and the needle just disappeared out of thin air but Sasuke had seen it clearer than day. The Nara's hand had grabbed the needle like a snake would snatch its unsuspecting prey.
Shikamaru turned his head on the desk just enough so that Sasuke could see him smirk. Sasuke smirked back until their attention was drawn to the door by a loud voice.
Naruto POV
After getting dressed and ready for the day I still had a few minutes to spare. I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time since I came back to the past. My face was round and childlike and still held some baby fat. My body was ridiculously short and underdeveloped. I still wore the bright eye blinding orange jumpsuit and green goggles.
Overall my appearance is nothing like it will become in the future. In the future I became almost a carbon copy of my dad, the Fourth Hokage. I had a tall lean stature with well-developed muscles. My face was longer and masculine with a hint of femininity due to having some of my mother's facial features. I also had grown out my hair similar to my dad's except my hair was shaggier and it went just past my shoulders. I usually kept it in a loose ponytail to keep it out of the way leaving the front of my hair loose so that it messily framed my face in a stylish way. I wore a jacket similar to my dad's but instead of it being white with red flames, mine was a burnt orange color with black flames. The only thing I noticed that are the same are my eyes. It seems even my 12 year old naïve eyes are tainted by the darkness of war my old eyes held.
I sighed and shook my head. This is no time to be thinking about the past. I slapped my face to focus and looked once more in the mirror. I put on a bright smile and willed the darkness shrouding my eyes to fade allowing my bright cerulean blue eyes to shine like they once did.
"Yosh!" Now ready, I leave my poor excuse for a house and head to the academy.
The walk was anything but peaceful. I had so much on my mind and it didn't help that nearly every person I passed whether civilian or shinobi gazed at me with the same icy cold stare. They whispered to each other or purposefully muttered 'monster' or 'demon-brat' at me when I passed by. I sighed. Even though it doesn't affect me like it used to, it still stung. It's been years since I've been treated like this so I guess you could say my endurance for it has worn down. Oh well. I gained their respect once I'll just have to do it again!
By now I've almost reached the classroom. The door is closed but I could hear Sakura and other girls fighting over who'll sit next to Sasuke. Suddenly I got a bit nervous. Am I ready to see my friends, my comrades who last I saw were on their deathbeds? No I have to be ready. I will make sure they'll never face such horrible deaths as they had. That's why I'll greet each one with a smile knowing that I have another chance. Taking a deep breath to calm myself I put on my brightest smile and slide the door open and yell.
"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!"
Everyone's eyes turned to me and I could tell Shika, Sakura and Sasuke were debating between facepalming or laughing at me.
"Geez you're so loud!" Ino glared at me.
Sakura looked at Ino and decided to join in. "Yeah Naruto! You're so annoying!"
"Eh? Sakura-chan too?" I pretended to act disappointed.
Keeping up the act I slouched in a sulking manner and walked to sit next to Sasuke where I sat in the past. Funny how Ino and Sakura used to fight over who sat next to Sasuke when there are two seats next to him haha!
When I sat down there were multiple screams about how they should sit here and not me. Man they sound like shrieking monkeys.
I discreetly sent Sasuke a sympathetic look not knowing how he dealt with the fangirls. He smirked back and looked away to prevent anyone from seeing our exchange of glances.
Hmm… what did I do in the past? Oh yeah! If I remember correctly I got on top of the desk and got close to Sasuke.
…I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh well. I jumped on the desk right in front of Sasuke and got so close to him that our noses were practically touching. We both glared at each other until I heard Sakura yelling at me to not glare at 'Sasuke-kun'.
"Everyone's all 'Sasuke this and Sasuke that'. What's so great about you?" We continue to glare at each other as the girls yell at me in the background.
Unknowingly, the three old teammates were thinking the same thing:
Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?
…OH NO!
All three teammate's eyes widened as they remembered but it was too late. The student sitting in front of Sasuke bumped into Naruto on the desk and ultimately caused Naruto to clash lips with Sasuke in a full on lip locking kiss.
…. "Bwah! Eww!" I held my throat and spit like crazy trying to forget what just happened.
I can't believe I forgot this happened! I looked at Sasuke and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. We must have blocked out this traumatic memory in the past.
"Naaarruuuutoooo!" I looked over to see Sakura and all of the girls looking at me with killing intent. Sakura was cracking her knuckles with an evil glare but I could tell her eyes were tearing up a bit from biting her tongue to prevent herself from bursting out laughing. Shikamaru was still pretending to sleep but I could see his shoulders shaking as he muffled his snicker. Damn him! I bet he remembered but didn't say anything on purpose!
By then the girls were already on top of me beating me up. Luckily they were interrupted by Iruka-sensei.
"Good morning class… Naruto what happened to you?" Iruka-sensei looked startled to see me with two black eyes and bruises all over. I could feel the girl's glares beating into my back so I just shrugged. On the inside though I had to keep myself from flinging myself at Iruka-sensei. Iruka had died trying to protect some of the academy kids shortly after trying to stop me from entering the war. It was a huge hit to me. Besides Sandaime-jiji, Iruka-sensei had been the first on to accept me for who I am.
"Okay class. We are now about to begin the graduation test. When your name is called proceed to the next classroom. The test is on the Bunshin no Jutsu. (Clone Jutsu)"
I snort. Damn the council was desperate to get me to fail. Didn't anyone find it suspicious that out of all the academy jutsu's they could've tested us on it just happened to be the one that I sucked at. I mean it would be more accurate and efficient to have us perform more than one jutsu and average our score out instead of just testing us on a simple clone jutsu.
When my name was called I walked into the classroom to see Iruka-sensei and Mizuki. I had to stop myself from glaring at him and his obvious fake nice guy act. Ever since befriending Kurama I've been able to sense people's negative emotions even without being in Chakra-Mode and man I can just feel the hatred rolling off of Mizuki.
Iruka-sensei looked at me kindly with a bit of pity mixed in. He already knew I was probably going to fail. "Okay Naruto. Whenever you are ready."
It didn't take much to fail. Even when I had complete control over my chakra, I could never really do the bunshin no jutsu due to my immense chakra reserves. And now that my chakra control is a disaster it's safe to say my clone turned out pathetic.
I rubbed the back of my head in fake embarrassment and waited for them to fail me. I felt bad when I saw the disappointed look on Iruka-sensei's face but I had to do this so I'll have an excuse for using Kage bunshin no jutsu. After I failed I drooped my head and dragged my feet slowly out the door.
I sat on the same swing I did so long ago and watched as everyone's parents met their kids to congratulate them. I saw Sakura being hugged by her parents and I smiled. Sakura's parents were killed by an attack from Madara during the last battle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke walking past the group of parents and new genin probably going home. He turned his head in my direction and nodded his head slightly before continuing on. Since I had told everyone about the Mizuki incident I told them I had to be seen alone and for them to ignore me.
After some time passed I felt Mizuki approach me.
"Hey Naruto! What's wrong?"
Putting on a dejected look I sighed. "Oh hi Mizuki-sensei. Nothing really. I just really wanted to become a ninja that's all." Calling him sensei was harder than I thought.
After that he proceeded to tell me about the secret way to pass the exam. Acting excited I thanked him and went on my way to go and steal the scroll.
And that's it for this chapter! It's a lot longer than the first chapter and I'm hoping to keep it this length but I'll have to see. And now for what I wanted to say:
Okay so yeah I know people are probably tired of time travel fanfics with everyone being war hardened and all and I thought about changing it but I figured that if the future was bad enough for them to travel to the past then they would have to of changed. This fanfic is supposed to take place after years of war and death so they couldn't stay like kids forever but don't worry. I plan for them to only stay this way in the beginning when the war is still fresh in their minds and are still caught up with their past/future but they will slowly change as they move on so please bear with it until then. Thank youuu~ And I will still give plenty of moments when their inner child takes over hehe. This is a chance for them to regain a bit of the childhood they missed due to war after all.
Until next time! Please review! I am open to any suggestions on improvement! ^^