Hey there!

Welcome to the third instalment of the "Sacrifices Universe"

Before reading this, I highly suggest you read the first story, Sacrifices for Peace, and then the sequel, Sacrifice and Surrender.

This is an AU and events from both of those stories will definitely help you understand this story/setting better, since the 'past' they're going into isn't the canon past of the original Naruto story. There are things that are different.

Much love, Alex xx

Willing Sacrifices

Kakashi and Obito were only meant to say their final good-byes, but apparently, the Sage of Six Paths had other plans.

Choosing to return to the days of their youth, Kakashi, Obito and Rin find themselves in a world a bit different to the one they remembered, and yet the same in many ways.

The trio find themselves facing new and old dangers, which sucks for Kakashi and Obito, who should've thought the whole 'change the world' thing through more when they realised they'd gone from grown men and powerful shinobi to puny kids again. Not that Rin minded, she was just glad to have her teammates back, and no way was she going to let them get into trouble again.

Prologue: Shifting Time

Chakra connects all things.

The Fourth Shinobi War had released more chakra into the world than any other time since the first sealing of Kaguya Otsutsuki, and the effect of that was greater than anyone could have predicted.

The previous reincarnations of Indra and Asura met, Naruto and Hashirama, Sasuke and Madara. The cycle of hatred was broken by Naruto and Sasuke, and the world suddenly stopped. Time had been made into a construct for humans to understand, but it was not something tangible to grasp on to. It shifted and moved and overlapped.

As Sakura Haruno and Itachi Uchiha were enveloped by the chakra of Asura and Indra, the soul of Kakashi Hatake disappeared into a plane of chakra where he was met by Obito Uchiha once again. He'd expected to say his final good-bye to his rival, teammate-turned-enemy, ally and friend. As they stood again facing one another, adults for a moment before their bodies changed again, and they were same age they were when Obito was lost, another presence appeared in the chakra plane.

Kakashi and Obito stared at the Sage of Six Paths with shock and surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Obito blurted out.

The Sage gave them both a small smile, but it wasn't exactly happy.

"How strange it is to find two people whose stories are so very like my own children, and yet are not incarnates of them."

Kakashi frowned. "I guess we're just lucky," he replied dryly. He didn't like that the Sage was here, in Obito's spiritual chakra plane. It meant something was happening, and it was probably going to be something he didn't like.

"Kakashi. Don't be rude," Obito scolded him.

Kakashi ignored him. "I think you should answer Obito's question," he said to the Sage. "What are you doing here?"

The Sage of Six Paths bowed his head in acquiesce. "My sons have made a decision that will cause the world you've lived in to change."

Kakashi frowned and vaguely remembered the chakra around Sakura and Itachi before his consciousness faded and ended up here.

"What are they doing to Sakura and Itachi?" Kakashi asked.

The Sage hummed with thought and disapproval. "They have manipulated time, and sent those two into the past in an attempt to fix Indra's mistakes."

Kakashi felt his chest seize in panic. "That's not… What do you mean?"

"The bonds forged between Sakura, Itachi, Naruto and Sasuke were so strong and deep that my sons felt them. Zetsu is Indra's greatest regret. In an attempt to stop him before the worst begins, Sakura and Itachi have been sent to the previous reincarnations."

"To Madara?" Obito asked, sounding slightly panicked.

The Sage of Six Paths nodded.

"Send me back to them," Kakashi demanded.

"I can't," the Sage said.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked angrily. He might look like he was 13 again, but he was definitely not, and Sakura was capable of handling herself but Zetsu and Madara were dangerous targets. He needed to support her.

"I'm here to give you both a choice." He looked at them. "Understand this: the actions of Sakura and Itachi will change the world as you knew it. Past or present, whatever life you led outside of this place is now changed."

Kakashi took a deep breath. The cause and effect of time-travel was not something he wanted to think about.

"What's the choice you're offering?" Obito asked.

It sounded impossible, and yet…if they could succeed, and seal away Zetsu, and somehow keep Madara from turning against the Leaf…the possibilities of change were endless. Kakashi glanced at Obito, how would their lives change?

"Some things happen because they are meant too. Perhaps not in the same way, but they happen all the same. War is one of those things," the Sage said with a distant look in his eyes.

Kakashi and Obito exchanged a look.

"I'm giving you a chance, a choice, that can never be offered again," he said. "To go back, to live your life over."

"You just said that Sakura and Itachi would change things," Kakashi argued.

"He also said some things are meant to happen," Obito said quietly, looking at Kakashi. "So maybe Kannabi Bridge…"

Kakashi swallowed and looked at the Sage. He was offering them a chance to change what happened that day? If they went back, could Obito live? If they didn't, would he die? If Madara was saved by Sakura and Zetsu was gone, which Kakashi had no doubt his student would manage that somehow, what else would be different. He had to know. It wasn't even a choice anymore, especially if the world outside was changed as he said.

"I'll go," he said quietly.

Obito looked at him and nodded. "Me too," he said. Then he frowned. "But Rin…"

The Sage of Six Paths smiled at them both and moved aside.

"I hope you're not thinking about leaving me behind."

Kakashi's felt himself freeze when he saw her. Rin, smiling, just like she was before…before his hand went through her chest.

"Rin," he breathed. He never thought he'd see her again, not until he died. Maybe not even then.

"Rin!" Obito cried. "I thought you were waiting for me."

Rin sighed with a little exasperation. "I told you I'd always be watching over you, Obito." The boys cheeks blushed. "So there's no way we're not doing this together. We're a team."

Kakashi stared at her, she was just like he remembered. Nothing about her had changed.

"The past you will return too will not be the same as the one you knew," the Sage of Six Paths said, breaking Kakashi from his thoughts.

Obito waved his hand excitedly. "It doesn't matter, we'll change the world!" He declared, making Kakashi roll his eyes. In a more serious voice, he went on, "I made a promise with Naruto, and in his stead, I'll become a Hokage he can be proud of."

Kakashi swallowed thickly.

Rin broke the tension when she giggled. "You're never going to Hokage so long as Sensei's around."

Obito, returning to his adolescent behaviour, pouted and looked at Kakashi. "You believe in me, right, Kakashi?"

Kakashi sighed and turned to the Sage, who looked at them with humour in his eyes. "Sakura and Itachi?" He asked.

The Sage nodded solemnly. "If they didn't succeed, I couldn't offer you this chance," he said.

Rin frowned. "But I don't get it… they only just went back in time now."

"Rin, time isn't always chronological, and we're not exactly alive right now," Obito said to her.

"I don't really get it," Rin said, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. "But, okay!"

Kakashi swallowed, ignoring the other two. He looked at the Sage and understood everything that went unsaid in what he had told Kakashi. Sakura and Itachi would succeed, but by the time Kakashi was alive, both of them would be dead. Time would have passed and the world moved on. He felt pain and loss at the thought of it.

He looked down when he felt Rin take his hand, and then she took Obito's.

"It's time," she said to them both.

Kakashi gave a short nod. It was time. Time to, as Obito put it, change the world.