Hello! Welcome to my very first attempt at a time-travel fic! I was actually trying to expand on an idea I had 2 years ago but ended up with this instead! HAHAHA. Also, I'm still an amateur at writing so do go easy on me! Enjoy. ;)

Edit: 2/1/18

"Guys, guys! I got it!" Naruto yelled triumphantly, a grin stretching across his face. He ran towards his group of friends and skid to a stop in front of them.

"Can it, you idiot!" Sakura reprimanded, whacking him upside the head. "We're in the library! Don't you understand the meaning of silence?!" She peeked at the librarian who was staring intently at their group and nodded slightly in apology, wincing.

The Konoha 12, with the exception of Naruto, had been in the library simply relishing in the presence of one another. It was one of those rare moments where they weren't going all out against one another in spars or wrecking havoc around their precious village.

"Oww, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, clutching the back of his head. "You didn't have to hit so hard…" He mumbled, pouting. He would have felt remorseful but then again, it was in his nature to be loud – he couldn't help it, so he didn't. Bah.

"Anyway!" Kiba cut in, "What did you get, Naruto?"

At that, the others glanced at said blonde, wondering the same.

"Ah, right!" Naruto visibly perked up. He lightly bounced on his feet. "Okay, so remember when I told you guys about my theory on time-travelling, space-time jutsus and whatnot? Well, I think I've finally got it down!" His statement was rewarded by a round of curious stares and varied reactions.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Naruto, sure you've become a highly-respected seal master and all, but really? Time-travel? Do you know how... Implausible that sounds?" She scoffed.

"Yeah, moron. Why on earth would you want to go back in time anyway?" Kiba raised a brow.

"I'm not a moron! It works, I'm sure of it! Besides... Why not?" Naruto shrugged. "Sounds like it could be fun, dattebayo!"

Sakura gave him a patient stare. "Naruto, even if it did work, time-travel is an extremely dangerous thing. Ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? A simple action in the past could change so much in the future! You might not even know what'd change! It's a very big risk."

"Then all I have to do is make sure the decisions made are safe, right? No problem!" A cheeky grin.

Sakura let out a soft laugh and shook her head. Naruto would always be Naruto; always so carefree and making the best out of things. Although, she was quite sure that even without her telling him the risks, he would've already thought about it before he even started crafting ideas. The sharp glint in the back of his eyes only served to prove her theory. It was small, but it was there. Glancing around the room, she wasn't surprised to find out that most of their friends had also realised the same.

"All right, Naruto. Let's say we believe you - what are the requirements?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I was waiting for you to ask that," Naruto smirked. "This stuff may sound very complicated, but it isn't really. The seal only works once; meaning to say that if I draw it now and use it, the seal will vanish immediately. As Sakura has said, time-travelling is dangerous and this will prevent any others from tracking exactly how the seal is used.

"Unfortunately, since the seal is also highly sensitive, only three persons are allowed at a time. This works in our favour anyway since we're in three-man teams, so, meh. As for the time period we travel back to, it all depends on the person activating the seal – whom, of course, would need awesome chakra control. Once the seal is activated, the user has to think of where he or she wants to go. One wrong thought and you end up in a different time period, basically. Before any of you ask – yes, we'll be able to retain our memories, but since we're taking over our younger counterparts' bodies, I'm not all that sure if I can say the same for our physical strength. Everyone got that down?"

Slow nods were given.

"YOSH, THAT SOUNDS MOST WONDERFUL! I SAY WE GIVE IT A TRY!" Lee shouted, giving his signature grin and ridiculous pose. Sakura, Ino and Tenten threw him an irritated look.

"Which means to say that we should start out young if we want an edge," Neji crossed his arms.

"Agreed. If we travel back in time before any of us enters the academy, then we should have enough time to train and toughen ourselves up. I'd say 3 years old for the Rookie 9 and 4 for Team Gai would be most viable." Shikamaru suggested. There were no objections, for no flaws could be seen in the tactician's plan.

"But what will we do when we get back?" Hinata asked, twiddling her index fingers.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who spoke up first. "We beat them. Kabuto. Orochimaru. Madara. We make sure they don't bring about what was wrought here." A dark look immediately passed over eveyone's eyes. Well, that was unanimous.

"And then... We show the world who's boss, dattebayo!" Naruto punched his fist, mouth pulling into one of his infamous grins. "This time, guys, I'd actually like to take and pass the exams with flying colours, and not get promoted on the fields." The guys smirked in agreement and the girls smiled.

"Right then, if I'm not wrong when I say that no one objects..." Naruto trailed off. Everyone gave a nod. "...Then I'll start drawing the seals. Since it's only morning now, I should be able to get four done by night. Remember that ancient training ground deep in the woods? Gather there tomorrow at dawn. We leave then."

Naruto's gaze flickered over those who were standing in front of him. The Konoha 12 were standing at attention, already segregated into their own teams. He nodded, satistied, and passed each team a seal. "To activate the seal, all it takes is for one person to channel around half of his chakra into that circle there," Naruto pointed to the aforementioned circle. "The other travellers will have to grab onto the person channelling the chakra and provide some chakra support since more people will require more chakra. Understood? Someone with larger reserves or better control would work. The method's really malleable so it really depends on how you guys do it. But it's the same technique."

"Alright everyone, think back to New Year, the first of January of your third or fourth year in live. We've discussed which."

With firm nods and a small flare of chakra, they were off.

And done! That's it for chapter one! Sorry if it's short, but I wanted it to be just the flashback! Thus the italics. All else will start from chapter two. I hope I can make it longer... Will try!

NOTE:

I'm trying not to go really in-depth with the theories of time travel and how it's carried out. I'm honestly not creative enough to think about all that, haha, so more focus will be put into the future plot that unfolds instead. ((And that got me thinking and hyperventilating HAHAHA LIKE THERE WILL SURE TO BE FIGHT SCENES IN FUTURE CHAPTERS RIGHT? OH NOOOO))

Also, yes, Neji is alive. Rejoice! Only in my story though, he's still dead otherwise – sorry!