Chapter 1: Lost

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as an explosion rippled throughout the night air. "We have to go now!" Naruto, glowing a bright yellow with three medium-sized balls, his Truthseeker Orbs, surrounding him, grit his teeth as he saw Madara demolish what was left of the Great Ninja Alliance. 

Madara and Obito had taken everything from them. Their world, their peace, their lives, and their minds, stripped of everything they knew. 

"I have to save her!" Naruto screamed in agony as a Rasenshuriken formed in his right palm almost instantly. "He's going to kill Sakura-chan!" Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan looked down at the ground in shame, his left eye closed. 

"Naruto! Sakura is fighting to give us time! We're the world's only hope! We have to go, now!" He shouted. Naruto looked back at Sasuke before his eyes trailed back to Madara, who had just implanted his sword in Sakura Haruno's heart. 

Three long years. It had been three, terrifyingly long years since Obito, who had been posing as Madara at the time, had declared the 4th Great Shinobi War. Three years since he's been fighting a constant uphill battle against the two crazed Uchiha. 

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted, fully intending on rushing towards the woman, not caring about the consequences. 

"YOU FOOL!" Sasuke shouted as his left eye flew open, revealing his Rinnegan as he outstretched his hand. "Universal Pull!" He whispered as Naruto suddenly stopped going forward before being yanked back all the way towards Sasuke, who grabbed him and began running. "You really are an idiot aren't you?" 

"Sasuke let me go!" Naruto shouted, struggling with all his might to release himself of Sasuke's grip, but to no avail. "I have to save Sakura-chan!" 

"I will not! I was saving my Rinnegan ability to transport us to a different dimension so we could rest and fight again, but you made me use it up! We have to stay away for five minutes before I can go again!" Naruto's eyes widened. 

"But-"

"Sakura is dead Naruto. Everyone is dead, dying, or waiting for us. We need to stop Madara's rampage! He won't stop until both of us are dead!" 

Naruto remembered when Madara was almost beatable, at the beginning of the war. But the moment he absorbed half of Kurama's chakra, as well as the rest of the Tailed Beast, he evolved into a being that was stronger than the Sage of Six Paths himself. 

They could only do hit and run tactics, but with the threat of Zetsu clones and their clever disguises, they could only do so much. They had relied on Sasuke's and Naruto's strength to one day beat Madara, but they've barely even scratched the godlike man's skin. 

Sasuke's eyes widened as he suddenly hurled Naruto in front of him, his feet skidding in the dirt, his breathing ragged before a beam of light came out of the left side of his chest, destroying his heart. 

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he rushed to his best friend's aid, trying his best to repair the damage that had been done. 

He couldn't. That was Sage infused chakra that had hit Sasuke, something that they found out to be unhealable. "Naruto," Sasuke whispered, blood slowly trailing down his chin, his Sharingan gone, replaced by his coal-black eye, peering at the night sky above them, the stars twinkling in the reflection of his eye. "You are our only hope. You can bring him down, I-I believe in you." 

Tears silently went down Naruto's cheeks as Sasuke went still, the Uchiha now dead. "No," Naruto whispered as the world around him slowly began turning red. 

"Oh? Is he dead now? It's about time, without him this foolish resistance can be fully extinguished because, without him, you are nothing." Madara said, floating in the air just a few yards away from Naruto. 

"You," Naruto growled, rage thrashing in his heart as he glared at Madara's Rinnegan eyes. He had taken everything from him. Kakashi, Tsunade, Gaara, Team 6, Team 8, Team 9, Team 10, Sakura, and Sasuke. They were gone because of this man, no, this monster. They were stolen from him, ripped out of his life.

And he was powerless to stop him. 

"As a fellow Sage of Six Paths chakra wielder, I will always remember you, Naruto Uzumaki. If I weren't here, you would've been the most powerful shinobi alive. But unluckily for you," Madara rose his hand, a beam of light shining from it as waves of Sage chakra flowed into it. "I am here." 

The chakra shot out of Madara's hand and Naruto quickly ducked out of the way, the light piercing the ground as it erupted, spraying dirt everywhere. Naruto quickly formed a Lava Release: Rasensenshuriken in his left hand and threw it to Madara, who easily faded from existence. 

"Shit," Naruto spoke as he jumped into the air, but he was too late. Madara had grabbed Naruto by the throat, the twenty-year-old hanging in the air, his bright yellow eyes meeting Madara's intense gaze. 

"And this is how the Seventh Hokage dies," Madara spoke, a thin layer of chakra covering his right hand. "It's been a pleasure fighting you, Naruto Uzumaki!" He said before he shoved his hand forward, destroying the man's heart instantly. 

Naruto's glowing yellow body faded as he fell to the ground, blood leaking out of his torso as he coughed up blood, the light from his cerulean blue eyes slowly fading. "And now to erase what is left of your existence, there will never be another fighter quite like you, Naruto," Madara spoke with a certain fondness as he raised his hand, a large ball of chakra forming in the air above him.

"Now disappear!" He shouted before throwing the ball of chakra at Naruto, the light blinding what Naruto could see before he saw black and nothing more. 

Naruto's eyes flashed open and immediately saw a bright blue ceiling above him. He quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. 

Madara had kidnapped him, that much was obvious. Why? He was a hindrance to Madara's plans, why would he keep him alive? His body felt weird, but that was to be expected, Madara excelled at, something Naruto had experience in. 

He needed to get out. He quickly pulsed his chakra, hoping that it was still working. It did, even if it felt different as well as his chakra coils acting up, they worked. He could work with this. Now to get out. . . 

Naruto quickly spun around in the bed he was laying in, dispelling his chakra like a Hyuga would when they were doing their signature rotation. His chakra completely destroyed everything in the room he was in, which he was now observing completely. 

He stopped expelling his chakra when his eyes narrowed. This was his old, trashy apartment he had when he was just a Genin. He quickly looked down at his body and realized that he was closer to the ground than usual. 

What? 

"What type of genjutsu shit is this?" He murmured to himself as he carefully tiptoed to the bathroom that hasn't been touched by him in several years. He walked up to the mirror and peered into it, seeing his old, young face. He put his finger on his cheek and pushed. 

That was his flesh from when he was twelve all right. His body before didn't have baby fat and was actually pretty lean due to the lack of a proper food source. 

What type of genjutsu was this? He quickly walked out of the bathroom, his eyes still narrowed as he observed his old small apartment, looking for any clues as to where he truly was. 

A couple of minutes later and several sighs of disappointment, Naruto relinquished his search for any signs of genjutsu, there were none. Madara was quite skilled in genjutsu, but even he couldn't force this. 

So where was he? 

He would find out. 

Adorning his old orange jumpsuit, Naruto exited the apartment building, the sounds of bustling streets echoing in his ears. Carts moving, people shouting, the sound of foot meeting ground in rapid succession, these were all things he hadn't heard in a long time, not in this situation, not within a peace-ridden background. 

He noticed the slight glares the people of the village gave him and honestly, he relished in them. He loved this. Some of these faces, in his past, had greeted him with smiles before the war, after Pain, but then they died, vanished, and extinguished from existence by Obito and Madara along with their Zetsu army. 

Without even acknowledging it, Naruto's right hand balled into a fist, his fingernails clawing into the palm of his hand as blood slowly bled out, only for it to slowly instantly heal. Where in the hell was he? This wasn't the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he wouldn't be aware of that fact if he was. 

Something was wrong. Terribly but terrifically wrong. He would find out. Naruto's twelve-year-old eyes glanced up and saw the tallest building in the village, the red insignia for Fire being labeled on the front of it. 

He would have to see whoever this poser Hokage was. . . 

Marching into the building, Naruto ignored the secretary's protest as he barged into the Hokage's Office, only to stop his little crusade as he was greeted by the sight of the old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. 

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be meeting up with your team down at the academy and await your Jounin Sensei?" He questioned, his old voice sounding just a familiar as it did back then, filled with warmth and love. 

"Don't fuck with me!" Naruto shouted, throwing his hand in the air as he glared at the Third Hokage, who's eyes only filled with worry rather than caution. "Release this genjutsu Madara! I won't have you torturing me any further! Just kill me already!" 

"Naruto-kun are you sure you're alright?" Hiruzen asked softly as he rose from his desk, walking over to Naruto only to stop as the blonde glared murderously at him. It suddenly dawned upon him. 

Those were not the eyes of the Naruto Uzumaki he knew well. These were the eyes of someone who has lost too much and has bared too much. These were the eyes of a veteran. Naruto Uzumaki was no veteran. . . 

"Who are you?" Hiruzen questioned. Naruto felt the sweat trickle down the side of his face, an uneasy smirk appearing on his face as he pointed at the old man.

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing! You picked the wrong genjutsu to mess with me, Madara! The Third Hokage has been dead for almost eight years! You couldn't have used baa-chan or something? Even that would've been more believable." 

"Oh? So apparently I died a couple of years back? I must have missed the invitation to my own funeral, because as you can see," Killing intent suddenly flooded the room. "I am still very much alive." Hiruzen was surprised when Naruto didn't even flinch at his killing intent. Who was this really? 

"You can't trick me," Naruto whispered, mostly to himself as he shook his head. "The old man is dead! Orochimaru killed him at the Chunin Exams! Dead! He's dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, r-right? W-Where am I? Why is this happening to me?" Naruto whispered as tears gathered in his eyes. 

"Naruto?" Hiruzen said softly, his soft and kind elderly voice hitting Naruto as he looked up into the old man's eyes. 

"A-Am I really Naruto? I mean, I know it's me, I know that's my name, but I feel like I'm dead? I feel like my world is crumbling, or, it did! My world did crumble to ash! Madara, he, he destroyed everything! He killed sensei, baa-chan, Sakura, Sasuke! He killed them, and then, then, then he killed me!" Naruto shouted as he placed his hand on his chest as if the weight of the world suddenly decided to shift upon him. 

Naruto looked up at the shocked Third Hokage's eyes. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, a member of Team 7, and the 7th Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" 

"W-What? The Seventh Hokage?" Hiruzen began before narrowing his eyes. How had this imposter known that Naruto Uzumaki was Kushina's and Minato's child? That was under tight wraps and only a handful of people truly knew this truth. "Sit down, Naruto-kun. Explain everything to me." 

Naruto shakily took a seat, his head spinning. Was he really back to when he was a Genin? Or had that all been a dream? No, no, it couldn't have been a dream, it was all to vivid, memories still flashed in his brain. It was painful, too painful. 

Holding his head, Naruto let out an exhausted groan. "May I ask you a few questions first, old man?" Hiruzen felt a small smile tug on his lips, Naruto Uzumaki may be the only child besides his own grandchild to call him that. Perhaps this wasn't an intruder? 

"You may." Naruto nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose before sighing. 

"It seems that this is not a genjutsu, and if that's the case, then there is only one of two possible explanations," Naruto said as he met Hiruzen's eyes, his bright blue eyes showing the eyes Hiruzen once saw in Minato's eyes. "One: When Madara killed me, I was somehow transported back in time back to the day I was a Genin. Two: When Madara killed me, I was somehow transported to a totally different dimension. So now, I'm going to tally up the history of the world, or rather, my world, to you and see if it matches up, does that sound alright?" 

"Indeed. Though, it is rather hard to believe." Naruto nodded.

"I'm having a harder time believing this than you are, I promise. Anyway," Naruto said as he quickly popped his left shoulder before beginning. "The Three Sannin, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, fought and were defeated by Hanzo the Salamander, but were spared and given the title Sannin?" Hiruzen nodded, confirming that had happened here too. Naruto blew out a sigh of relief. 

"Okay, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha put aside the feud between the two clans and formed the Leaf Village?" Another nod. "Good. Minato Namikaze was the 4th Hokage and had three students, Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara. Obito Uchiha went missing in combat and was presumed dead while Rin Nohara killed herself using Kakashi Hatake's Chidori to stop the 3-Tails from destroying the village?" Hiruzen shook his head, making Naruto's heart drop.

"Close, but in this time, Kakashi Hatake was the one who went missing and is still presumed dead. Obito Uchiha, while fighting off several Mist Anbu, found that Rin stabbed herself in the heart, killing the Three-Tails along with herself. In a rage, Obito killed the rest of the Mist Anbu and returned home." Naruto felt his heart squeeze at the thought of losing Kakashi again. He quickly stored it back into his brain though, he needed to continue. 

"Okay. Itachi Uchiha massacred the Uchiha Clan and left only one survivor?" Hiruzen shook his head sadly.

"No, not entirely. Itachi Uchiha massacred the Uchiha Clan along with a very powerful figure who we were unable to identify, though they wielded a Sharingan as well. Only two remain, Obito Uchiha and Itachi's younger sibling." Naruto nodded, relieved that hadn't changed all too much, though the thought of Obito still being alive and amongst the shinobi sent shivers down his spine. 

"Okay, good. Orochimaru defected and you were too soft and let him go?" Hiruzen frowned, but nodded, not liking being reminded of his failure. "Okay, and last of not least, the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed within me." Another nod. "Good." 

"Now it's my turn," Hiruzen began as he began smoking from his pipe. "How old are you in your timeline?" 

"Twenty." 

"How did you become the Seventh Hokage?" 

"Process of elimination," Naruto muttered with a small wince. Hiruzen frowned. 

"Who were the Fifth and Sixth Hokages?"

"Tsunade Senju was the Fifth," That fact alone surprised Hiruzen enough to begin coughing, inhaling the smoke incorrectly. Naruto almost laughed but frowned at the next thought. "And Kakashi Hatake was the Sixth Hokage." 

"So in almost eight years, the Leaf went through four Kage? I'm surprised." Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. 

"Don't be, the Leaf was destroyed right before I became Hokage. I kept the title to inspire the survivors." Naruto grimaced. 

"Sounds like you were a good leader, Naruto-kun." Naruto clenched his teeth as he tried steeling his nerves. 

"I had to be. Sasuke didn't want to step up to the leader role due to his past, and Sakura said she didn't want to steal my dream! If I were such a good leader, then I wouldn't have let them die! I wouldn't have let my world go to shit!" Hiruzen frowned. 

"You mentioned Madara, I would assume you mean Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju's rival?" Naruto nodded. 

"The same, the bastard got revived by an Edo-Tensei by a shinobi named Kabuto Yakushi and then Obito Uchiha was forced to use the Rinne-Rebirth, reviving him completely. With that, Madara easily dispatched all of the Tailed Beast on his own, took Hashirama's Sage Jutsu, and absorbed the Tailed Beast. He became stronger than the Sage of Six Paths and from that point on, he was unstoppable.

"We held on for three long years, we lost several good men and women. No, we lost all of them. The moment Sasuke went down all hope was gone. It was my fault, I was selfish." Naruto cursed. "If I had only listened to Sasuke, then maybe, maybe we would've still had a chance!" 

"It seems to me, Naruto-kun, that you've been given a second chance by the gods. A chance to correct your failures in this timeline. It seems you know a majority of what is to come before this war with Madara comes to pass. Tell me, how strong were you before you died?" Naruto flinched at the words Hiruzen used but answered the question anyway. 

"I was stronger than Hashirama Senju by a lot if that's what you mean. I'm unsure, I was slowly getting closer to Madara's power, but I never truly reached it, obviously. Let's just say that I rivaled the Sage of Six Paths?" Hiruzen's eyes had widened significantly. 

"Is that so? How much of that power to you currently possess?" Naruto frowned. 

"Not much, nothing really. I'm only armed with the knowledge of how to perform techniques. As of right now, I'm just as strong as I was when I was a fresh Genin. I know how to use the jutsu, but my chakra network is completely different now. It's smaller, obviously, but it seems weird too? I don't know how to explain it but it definitely feels off. My control is off as well, I doubt I'd be able to perform the Rasengan without the proper practice of my chakra first." 

"It seems your Jounin Sensei will be able to teach you how to properly do all those things again," Hiruzen said as he saw the frustrated look on Naruto's face. "Perhaps you would like to go down to the academy and await him? I'm sure he'll be glad to teach you." 

Naruto nodded and stood up from the chair. "Thank you, Lord Third," Naruto said as he bowed slightly. 

"No, thank you, Lord Seventh," Hiruzen said as he tilted his hat the Jinchuuriki. "It seems you are destined to be this world's savior. Without your knowledge, I'm sure we'll be just as doomed as before." Naruto let a small smile crack upon his face. 

"I won't fail, old man. I can't lose again, I won't lose again!" Naruto turned around, his features immediately darkening as he walked out of the office. "I won't lose, I won't lose my village a second time. I won't lose," He repeated to himself. "Never again." 

Naruto walked into the academy, his nerves suddenly flaring up as he felt nervous meeting his teammates again. They were alive! Sasuke and Sakura were alive! He would get to see them again! But the thought made him nauseous. 

'No, calm down Naruto. You need to be calm and collected. You are the Seventh Hokage of a different world, surely making friends with your teammates won't be that hard. It can't be as hard as the first time, you know them!'  He thought as he slowly slid the door open and was greeted to an empty classroom, all for except two students. 

"Jeez Naruto, you're late! How the hell can you be late for the most important day of your life!" Sakura Haruno shouted at him. Again. He mentally added. She looked exactly as she did when they were Genin. He looked over to where Sasuke was. . . 

"Who are you?" He suddenly asked. There was a girl in Sasuke's seat. She had longish black hair that ran down to her shoulders in a thin ponytail with large bangs that covered her black coal eyes. 

"What the hell do you mean by that dobe?" Dobe? DOBE?! DOBE?!!?!?!?!

"S-Sasuke?" The girl before him glared at him, sending shivers down his spine as he unconsciously took a step backward. 

"I told you to stop calling me that dobe! Or would you like me to beat it into you again?" She barked, a superior smirk crossing her pink lips. 

"Jeez Naruto, when are you going to leave Sayuri alone?" Sakura chastised him. Naruto's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. 

Sasuke's a fucking girl?! 

And done. How was it? Good? Bad? Tell me! 

Anyways, new book! Time Travel is fun to explore especially in a world where I can fuck with anything I want, and I will, trust me. That is evident enough. So yeah, tell me whatcha think. 

so ye

Til next time my lil demons!