A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is short by comparison, but I'm preparing for a timeskip and this is a good place to leave off. I apologize in advance if I'm being inconsistent in my usage of Japanese (be it honorifics or specific words). I'm focusing on plot and the extremely tricky timeline, so small details like that will slip my attention.

I've had to introduce some minor OC's in this chapter, and I will have to introduce some in the future (some of whom will be much more important). This is either out of necessity (Obito's family, for instance) or out of logic (a Naruto who is born with a family and different genetics will obviously be different). I'll try and make them unique and likable without making them Mary/Marty Sues. If you feel that they are, please let me know.

As for the reviews, I want to thank each and every one of you who reviewed last chapter. I wasn't expecting such a positive response, and it's heartwarming to see you guys care.

And so I'm going to list the usernames of every person who reviews the last chapter in the A/N of the next one. Here they are:

TsubasaWitch, THE-complete-zelda-fan, Sora Nadeshiko, aims123, luckycomet09, the DragonBard, Thealie, The-Real-James-Potter, kyuubi233, Kiiroi Senko, deanine, Frostius, wind dancer1981, Jamie-LuvsFanfiction

I really appreciate each and every review I've gotten so far. Also note that this story is not hard-outlined; if there's a scene or character interaction you want to see, suggest it and it might happen!

I've been asked if I'm going to factor in recent manga revelations into my story; my answer is that until I see next chapter, I can't be sure. I might put some of them in, I might put none of them in, or I might put all of them in. Thankfully, I won't be getting to a point at which they'll be relevant for a little while.

Without further ado, Enjoy!


Chapter 6: Change Is The Only Constant

Jiraiya the Gallant, as he liked to call himself, raced towards Amegakure as fast as his legs would carry him. He had long since received news that those three kids were dead, but to find out they were alive…

It was not an opportunity he was going to let slip.

00.000.00

"Wake up, baka!" Sasuke was awoken by rather unconventional means. Means that he was not at all used to. Given his roommate, however, he quickly deduced exactly what means had been used to awaken him.

A punch to the head. Which, given him roommate, meant that he was flung straight out of his bed and across the room, where he was brought to a sudden and complete stop by an innocent looking wall.

Sasuke would never look at that wall the same way ever again. "What…the hell, Sakura?"

"I said, WAKE UP. We're going for a walk."

He almost felt like quoting Shikamaru at that point. But he also knew what happened to Shikamaru when he said his catchphrase to someone who had their fist on a trigger finger.

He quickly prepared for a walk.

00.000.00

Naruto knew better than to visit his parents given the hints he himself had dropped the day before. Deciding to visit someone he had not spent much time with in the past week, he headed for Hinata's suite.

"Come in," she called.

He opened the door to find her staring out the window, towards the direction of the Hyuuga compound. Realizing what she was probably thinking about, he closed the door and sat next to her. "Crazy, isn't it?" he asked.

She didn't turn to look at him. "I don't know what to think." She paused, sighed, and faced him. "My mother is still alive. I know exactly how she died, and I can prevent it. But…"

"Nothing's the same anymore."

"…yeah. I'm not even allowed to see her until she's pregnant with Hanabi. But honestly, we may have already done enough to change all of that. Perhaps just by what we've already done, some of us will never be born, but with different children in our place?"

Naruto looked down. "Maybe. I know for sure that I've already changed things a lot with my parents. All things considered though, that may not be a bad thing."

Hinata looked at her boyfriend in shock. "How can you say such a thing?"

"My family was destroyed on the day I was born. I'm not saying it was my fault, but I am saying that perhaps it's for the better that things happen differently. After all, if we're really trying to change things for the better, can we really afford to worry about every other change we accidentally make?"

Neither said anything for a minute while Hinata considered his words. "What do we do, then?"

"I guess we just try and change only the things we need to change, like the Kyuubi attack and the Uchiha Massacre. I guess we'll just have to make changes secretly, until we can be sure that Hanabi's generation is born. But honestly, I don't think we can pick and choose like that."

"Are you saying I should just change things so that my sister is never born?"

He sighed. "No, but we never know. If your sister is born, maybe she'll be different. Just by knowing you down the line, she already will be. Nothing will be the same. Even if the same people exist, they'll become different people because things will be different. Just imagine Sasuke-teme. Without the Uchiha Massacre, he'll be a very different person."

"…still, I'd rather they grow up differently than never exist at all."

"I know. And so would I. But we can't just live in here, holed up for years and hope that we haven't changed certain things. Maybe it's time to let the past—or the future, or whatever—go." He held her in his arms for a long while as she considered his words.

00.000.00

"So maybe you can tell us, Kakashi-jisan. How exactly do we use these eyes?"

"Jisan? I am not that old!" Kakashi then considered his words for a moment, and in the face of several knowing stares, deflated in defeat. "Okay, fine." After sighing, he continued. "The Sharingan has three main abilities. One, it can see chakra flow and even attribute it a color, two, it allows you to perceive more detail at a much faster pace, and three, it allows you to copy jutsu as a result of the first two abilities. Follow me so far?"

They nodded. "I'm sure you've already noticed the first two, but I'm going to be teaching you how to use the third. It's one of the things I was known for, in my time."

"What exactly were you known for in your time?" asked Kakashi-kun, as he had been called.

"I had the monikers 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' and 'Copy Ninja Kakashi.' I've copied over 1000 jutsu."

All three of them paled at that. "One thousand jutsu?" asked Kakashi-kun. "You can really do that?"

"Yes, though it took me many years to accumulate such an arsenal. Thankfully, I can speed the process up for you two, but copying jutsu doesn't work like magic. The Sharingan gives you the how, not the what. In order to perform a jutsu you see, you still need the prerequisite abilities. For example, in order to copy and perform Chidori Nagashi, you need to be very proficient with both shape and nature manipulation in regards to lightning."

"Chidori Nagashi?" asked Kakashi-kun.

"Hm? Oh, right. It's a jutsu derived from our Chidori. Invented by a student of mine. It basically involves channeling the Chidori as a current throughout your body or an object. Though I don't recommend trying it until you build up larger chakra reserves."

"So what can you teach us right now, then?" asked Obito.

Kakashi-jisan took out two bells from his pocket. "How to act like a team."

00.000.00

Sasuke walked alongside his pink haired teammate through the main streets of Konoha. As scary as it was seeing her when she was borderline psychotic, seeing her acting pleasant and nice a few minutes later made him fear for his life. A certain bipolar Juugo came to mind.

"Look, they're selling plums over in that stand. Want some?" she asked.

Sasuke almost grunted instinctively, before remembering the warning he had received recently. He certainly did not want to die anytime soon. "Umm…sure."

They walked over to the stand, while Sakura was talking about the various fruits at the stand. Sasuke just told her to pick what she wanted and he'd eat it. Such normal interaction was lost on him; he hadn't acted carefree or casually since his family was massacred.

"Want a banana, Ita-chan?" a voice cooed from behind them. Sasuke froze, and Sakura picked up on the hints instantly. She made no attempt to leave, however.

The woman Sasuke instantly recognized as his mother walked up the same stand and picked out a banana. He stole a glance at the two, trying not to be noticed. Seeing his family like this was beyond surreal. Emotions and memories that he had long since been brutally smothered underneath pain and darkness were finally reemerging. A four year old Itachi grabbed onto Sasuke's pants with a look of mischief and laughed. "Mom! Look! Funny hair!"

The teen couldn't say anything in return. He simply stared down at this contradiction. Here was the same man who had massacred everything that he held dear in a single night, who had driven him on a path of revenge, and who had turned out to be his loving older brother all along, somehow. And yet this little boy in front of him merely pointed out his 'funny' hair.

Mikoto quickly pulled him away. "Itachi-chan! It's not nice to make fun of other people." She looked up at Sasuke and apologized. "I'm very sorry, he's still little."

"It…it's fine," he managed to say.

Having already paid for the banana, she said goodbye, took Itachi's hand, and started walking down the street. Sasuke merely stared at them until they were out of sight.

"It's rude to stare, you know," said Sakura. He turned to his teammate. "I think we've had enough excitement for one walk, don't you think?" He gave a small nod in response.

As they turned to head back, Sakura saw a slight smile form on Sasuke's lips.

00.000.00

Naruto and Hinata sat atop the Hokage Mountain, staring out into the sunset. Neither had said much in quite a while.

Hinata eventually broke the silence. "I've been thinking about what you said, Naruto-kun."

He turned to look at her as she continued. "I…I think you're right. Nothing is going to be the same anymore, and it would be stupid to try to not change everything. The Kyuubi attack, if we can do anything to stop it, is something that happened before Hanabi was born. There's simply no way to prevent the worst things from happening while not changing everything else. All we can do is be there for our families when the time comes. Maybe we can change those things for the better, even if we can't keep everything we wanted."

She met his eyes, and they kissed.

Loud laughter interrupted their moment, as they turned to face an oblivious Minato and Kushina heading their way. Minato was ticking his love, causing Naruto to smile.

"Mina—haha—Minato! St-stop!" she yelled playfully. Finally, she tackled him into the ground, pinning him down before kissing him. Deciding to get a little revenge, Naruto whistled, causing the couple to break their kiss, startled.

"Na-Naruto! What are you doing here?" asked Minato.

"The same thing as us, apparently," Kushina added with a laugh.

"We can move, if you'd like," said Hinata.

"No, no. It's fine, you were here first. We'll just have to find another spot. Oh, but before we do, we've got some news to share!" Minato said cheerfully.

Naruto and Hinata looked at the couple in anticipation. "We're engaged!" they said in unison. Everyone present smiled wide.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, Kushina," said Naruto. "You really did want to marry him."

Minato looked at his fiancé in confusion. She laughed nervously before saying, "Ehehe…like, I kind of let it slip a few days ago. Ehe…umm, sorry?"

The blond laughed in response. "That is so like you, Kushina-chan." He paused, whispering into her ear. "And one of the many things I love about you."

The couple became very absorbed into each other after that, so Naruto silently motioned to Hinata for them to relocate. "I think that's exactly why I think trying not to change anything is a bad idea," he said. "We can do so much for these people. That, and well…we can't save everyone."

00.000.00

Obito arrived home late in the evening. He was battered, bruised, and utterly humiliated, but he loved every second of it. Finally, they were acting like a true team.

No, more than just a team. Good friends. "Dad, Mom, Yumi-nee-san, I'm home!"

He hadn't been home since the mission; after recovering in the hospital (his family did visit, though), and training for the day with his team, he hadn't had a chance to return. Because mission details often became classified, he hadn't shared the news of him awakening his Sharingan quite yet. At least, that was what he was telling himself. His older sister had activated her Sharingan when she was 10, and became the focus of his family ever since. His lack of ability to awaken his Sharingan didn't help his problems. At the same time, he knew that his parents did care about him. Such was the nature of the Uchiha clan, he guessed, that they care so much about talent and skill even when it comes to family.

His mother was the first to greet him. "Obito, it's great to see you out of the hospital. But what happened? It looks like you've been rolling around in the dirt!"

Yeah, I have. Not of my own will, though. "Training, hehe. Um, are Dad and Nee-san here? I have news for everybody."

"They are, Yumi just got back from a mission. Your father is still recovering from that arm injury, but he should be eager to see you. Daiki! Yumi!"

They all gathered into the family room, waiting for Obito to give the news. "Well, I guess I might as well just show you." He activated his Sharingan, revealing two black tomoe within blood-red eyes.

His parents beamed at the news, and his sister just added, "Well, it's about damn time, baby brother."

"Oi! I'm not little anymore!" he protested.

His family laughed at that retort. "When?" asked his mother, Ami.

"During my last mission. I…I nearly didn't make it back. I had a big help at just the right time."

His family grew noticeably uneasy at hearing how close their loved one had come to dying. "I'm glad you're okay, baby brother." Obito made no retort this time.


A/N: Like I said, I'm going to be playing with the timeline a bit. I'm also going to be taking a little liberty when it comes to what affects who. For instance, I DO want some characters to be genetically identical to their future counterparts, despite the unlikeliness of that. And in case you guys haven't guessed, the "past" Naruto will be born much earlier, for reasons I've made pretty clear.

I can only hope that you guys will continue to review like you did for last chapter. Once again, even taking 10 seconds to write "nice story" or "keep it up" is great to hear and good motivation. The reviews are my motivation, so the more/better they are, the faster and better subsequent chapters will be.

Until next time!