Author's Notes

This story will, for the most part, follow the Manga/Anime storylines... Some minor changes, many MAJOR changes.

No Flaming in the reviews, please... I want constructive stuff, not bashing.

Yes, I know, many of the descriptions are... Sub par.

A man rushed through the forests, a boy in his arms, the boy was unmoving, his breathing shallow and almost nonexistent. The boy's messy blond hair was caked with mud and traces of blood, his face bore the same mess, his left eye was swollen shut and had turned a disturbing black color. The boy's clothes were tattered and were also covered in mud and blood. Around his body he wore a vest, dark green in color minus a red whirl pattern on the back. This vest had seen better days, it's armored shoulders were broken and useless, as was every pouch on it's front. The boy's arms were, or had been, covered in long, black sleeves with grey colored arm-guards underneath. The sleeves were torn and useless, the left sleeve was completely gone, to be honest. His arm-guards were broken and barely hung onto the boy's arms. The man was not caked in as much blood as the boy, but blood covered his front, arms and flecks across his whiskered cheeks.

The man hurried along the forested path, his path well illuminated by the city that burned at his back. It's tall buildings burned brightly in the night, but no sound but the crackling of the flames reached his ears. Everything was gone. His wife. His daughter. His village. His friends. All of it either burned to the ground or executed before the flames could reach it.

And now it dared to take his son from him. Bolt Uzumaki lay in his father's arms, the man desperately trying to flee from their burning home. At this point Naruto Uzumaki, the Orange Hokage of Konoha, the Hero of the Fourth War, the bearer of Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox... Was nothing but a man trying to protect what was left of his life. Everything was burning, Hinata, the woman he had loved for so long, their daughter, Himawari, the girl having only recently become a chunnin herself... All of it gone. Destroyed by a force nobody had seen coming; the Daimyos themselves.

Each of the villages were burning. From Iwa to Oto. From Suna all the way across the seas to Yukigakure. The Shinobi world was crumbling to the ground and nobody, not even the heroes of the fourth war, could do a single thing to stop it.

Naruto felt his left feet strike a root, causing the Kage to tumble head over heels, but years of training had taught to man to always land on his feet... Which he did out of instinct. Breathing heavily, Naruto checked Bolt's vitals, the fourteen year old jounin was barely hanging onto life. The snap of a twig and a dull thump from nearby caused Naruto's fingers to grasp as many shuriken as he could throw, but he lowered them shortly after.

"Sa..suke?" Naruto breathed, his lifelong friend and fellow hero was leaning against a tree, but something... Something was off, Naruto could feel it.

"Dobe?" Sasuke breathed before stepping into the light, and Naruto's heart sank. The Rinnegan that had been stored within Sasuke's left eye was completely gone, even the eyelid had been torn away. His right eye wasn't gone, but it had been damaged and was now unable to open due to one well placed cut straight down it's center. Sasuke sat his back against a tree and slowly slid down the rough surface, sighing as his legs practically gave out under him.

"Sasuke.. It's gone. It's all gone." Sasuke could only nod in response. "I know, Dobe... I found Sakura earlier... She died protecting Sarada. Both are gone, Naruto... Just.. Gone.." Naruto looked down as he placed two fingers against Bolt's neck and froze. He was gone. Tears flowed freely down Naruto's cheeks, they path already determined through the dirt by the tears that had fallen through the whole ordeal.

"Naruto. Use It." Naruto blinked and looked up at Sasuke. "Use the Sage. Call him... I can't now." Sasuke indicated his missing left eye.

"But... What the hell can the old jiji do? I mean... It.. I.." Naruto's mind was racing and on the verge of a severe mental breakdown, but someone finally decided to add his two cents.

'IDIOT!' Naruto winced. 'All of them are gone, brat. Mata, Chomei, even Bee and Gyuu. All. Of. Them. Are. Dead. We three are alone in this... Two really, with his missing eyes. You have to brat, you have to change this. None of this was written, none of it. The old man will figure something out.'

"Kurama... Alright... Sasuke, since you don't have a connection anymore..." Sasuke gave a 'hn' as he tapped his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him so many years before. "If you can, keep the snake perv from sinking his fangs in." Naruto blinked, looking up at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what?" Was all Naruto could blurt out, at this point confused as to why Sasuke was asking him to change something so important in the past. "Dobe, it's a butterfly effect. The time line you'll be altering isn't ours. This... Shit, this time line is done. We're done. All of it. We can't change this time line. Everything that happens after this is out of our hands." The sounds of explosions in the distance caused the two heroes to glance toward Konoha.

"Hurry up. I'll do what I can if they come here." Naruto nodded and positioned himself in a cross-legged position, giving one final look towards Bolt's body before closing his eyes and tapping his fists together as he dove into his mindscape, hoping, against all odds, that speaking with the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, would help is this... Bleak situation.

Naruto stood in the dark cavern that was his mind, tunnels leading in every direction, but it was quiet, except for the shifting of fur from the massive nine tailed fox that sat before him.

"Long time, kiddo. Hope you remember how to call him." Naruto scowled up at Kurama, who only gave a toothy smirk in response. Naruto walked towards a long wall that bore no mark, tunnel or otherwise. It was a flat, white marble surface that looked completely out of place in his mindscape. The blonde placed his palms against the marble and pumped a small amount of chakra through it. Not his, nor Kurama's, but some of the power that the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, had left during he and Sasuke's battle against Hagoromo's mother, Kaguya. The wall began to groan as red lines began to dance across it's surface, slowly meeting and then dancing off in different directions. Naruto and Kurama watched as the lines created a mural, of sorts, with depictions of all ten of the tailed beasts, and of a small portion of the Allied Shinobi Forces, finally ending with a an arm-less Naruto and Sasuke standing just underneath a depiction of Hagoromo. Starting at it's top, a line appeared, and quickly shot down, splitting the mural in half before the massive piece of marble began to move.

Inward the stone swung, a light began shining through the crack as it became wider and wider, causing the man to shield his eyes. Kurama did the same with two of his tails, both blinking as their eyes adjusted. Before them was a field, a field that stretched for miles save one thing; a small hill nearby. Naruto nor Kurama could see anything else on the field, but there was a mountain range far, far in the distance, it's peaks hidden by clouds. Naruto looked up to Kurama, who gave a shrug, then pointed towards the hill. Naruto nodded and the two ended this strange place. It felt like an eternity before the two reached the hill... And were disappointed when nobody was there.

"Shit... Now what?" "What now?" Both Kurama and Naruto jumped at the sound of Hagoromo's gravely voice. Naruto spun, restraining himself from outright hugging the old man, we was ecstatic to see the man that, quite possibly, held the only salvation that they had. Hagoromo looked just as he had during the war; a long, flowing white cloak covering black pants. The red Rinnegan still positioned at the center of his forehead, the two horns still sticking out from his white hair, his long beard, however, seemed longer, if anything.

"Hago-jiji.." Naruto murmured, causing the Sage to slowly lift his staff... Then cracked Naruto over the head with it. Naruto groaned as he crouched down, holding his head in agony. Kurama sighed as he scratched his chin with one claw.

"Naruto, Kurama... You two look like you've seen the deepest pits of hell and then had to walk back... What's happened? Did my mother appear again?" Both shook their heads as Naruto dove into their tale, from almost the time after the war, to the psychopath from the Otsutsuki clan that had kidnapped Hanabi and Hinata years ago. The sage was concerned about this, but Naruto didn't allow him to interrupt, continuing on about dealing with the hardships of a united shinobi world... And then ended when he explained the the Daimyo had effectively wiped all of them out. Hagoromo stared at Naruto in disbelief.

"All? All of them? Every sing-" "Father. All of the others are dead. Even Gyuuki and Killer Bee." Hagoromo rubbed his forehead, shaking his head at the news. Naruto and Kurama glanced at each other, then back at the sage as he began to pace.

"No... All of it... None of it is right. Nothing... No..." It was almost like the ramblings of a madman. "Naruto, Kurama... All of these events. From Toneri's appearance to this troubling genocide of the shinobi... None of it was foreseen. Not a single thing." He stared hard at Naruto and Kurama, who stared equally hard back. Suddenly, Hagoromo placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"You want to know, don't you?" Both in question nodded. "There is. And I will allow it... Though I do not know where it will send you, I have no control over it. Kurama, you could attempt to guide the two of you, but I would advise against it, should Kurama end up in one time and Naruto in another." The two gulped, having been forced apart once before, during the war, and neither wanted to even thinking about experiencing that amount of pain again. After a few moments, the sage lifted his legs up, his body now floating in place as he crossed his legs, his staff across his knees as he closed his eyes, gathering what energy he would need.

"Naruto... Kurama... Prepare yourselves. This process will be both takin on your bodies... But also incredibly painful to experience." Naruto blinked at the old man, tilting his head in confusion. Naruto may be near fifty, but describing a technique that clearly only the Sage knew like this was... Definitely confusing for the orange Hokage.

"What... What do you mean, father?" Kurama finally asked, making Hagoromo sigh. "Kurama, it will drain you of energy and chakra, leaving you near depleted, and Naruto." Naruto snapped to his head up as the Sage turned his eyes towards him.

"Your body will change to the time period you will be sent to, you could be twenty, ten, maybe even the night of your birth." Naruto clenched his right fist, the arm gifted to him as a parting gifting from Hashirama Senju after he and Sasuke's bout completely leveled what was once the Valley of End. Tsunade Senju, the then fifth Hokage, had cultivated the cells given by the first and, after almost a year, he and Sasuke were given their arms. It was the least she could do for the 'two snot nosed brats' that had sealed a goddess and saved the world.

"Are you two prepared?" Hagoromo asked, watching the two as they both seemed to look at the ground, then at each other. Suddenly, both Kurama and Naruto were smirking at each other as Naruto held up his right fist. Kurama slowly lowered a curled up left fist, gently tapping his partner's in return. Hagoromo smirked to himself as he lowered his legs, pausing at they touched the ground.

"And what of Sasuke?" "They took it. They took the power you sealed into his left eye and destroyed it." Hagoromo stiffened and nodded. "Then we have little time before they discover you and prevent our plan from going into motion." The Sage's body faded and flickered as he began moving faster than Kurama nor Naruto had ever seen. From one part of the hill to another the Sage dashed, drawing seals and enchantments that were completely foreign to Kurama, and completely out of understanding of Naruto. Finally, the Sage reappeared at the peak of the hill nearby to Naruto and Kurama.

"There. All is ready." "That... That only took a few seconds.." "Your point?" Kurama and Naruto deadpanned at his response to Naruto. The Sage stuck his staff into the ground and lifted his arms on either side of it's top, the symbols and seals he had drawn began slowing brightly as Hagoromo brought his hands together in front of him, as if he were praying, his palms flat against each other. A bright yellow light rocketed into the sky from each of the individual seals the Sage had drawn. The light slowly bent, striking Naruto and Kurama, surrounding their bodies in a soft golden glow, almost like their union in their Beast Cloak.

"Creation: Sands of Times; Reversal." Hagoromo murmured, his voice echoing all around them for what seemed like and eternity. All around them, from the distant mountains to the closer flowers on the plains became engulfed in light. Soon, it was only the three standing on a pure white plane of existence. Hagoromo slowly separated his hands and extended them towards Naruto and Kurama.

"Good luck." Hagoromo then faded from sight, leaving the two of them alone, slightly confused, but not afraid. They had a chance now, they could stop this, all of it.

Sasuke watched as Naruto's body slowly faded from sight, he was gone, off to what he hoped was the past. Sasuke sat himself against a large oak tree, smiling as he looked up into the sky, resting his head against the bark. He could no longer see the stars in the skies above, but he could tell that they were there, shining down like nothing was wrong. He cursed under his breath as his breathing became ragged and labored. Sasuke could practically feels arms around him, as if Sakura and Sarada were there with him, holding him in his last moments, and would be there in the next realm.

"Good luck... Dobe..." Sasuke murmured as he ran a finger across his scratched headband, the one Naruto had returned to him almost thirty years prior... He gripped it tightly before his fingers began to lose their grip and the headband rested on his lap, his hand gently turning to the side, the headband slipping from his fingers as Sasuke Uchiha breathed his last in that world as the sounds of explosions tore through the forest as even the lands of their future were torn apart.