Alright well...This is a first for me. Naruto fanfiction. The plot is a familiar one: One of team 7 gets sent into the past to save the future. Only this time it is Sasuke not Naruto. This will only go about until Sasuke finds out about Itachi. He won't get into the attack Konoha phase though, this will happen first. But you see I kinda like the emo bastard lol. I don't own Naruto or its characters!

Give it a chance though, the story will be pretty good later I promise. Also, the story will develop further about exactly why Sasuke wanted so desperately to go back in time and change everything. Encouragement will be needed for this story to be continued though, I'm a bit unsure how much people will like it.

A flash of pink and green,
A whiskered grin,
A flare of red,
A solemn vow,
A dark regret,
A determined man.

All around him the world was burning. He could barely see the stars through the thick smoke that threatened to choke him with every breath. For a moment he stood in silence and stared at the world around him. There was so much noise; screams filled the air as people died, wood creaked as the fire ate away at its strength, metal on metal screeched as the fighting continued but for him…there was nothing, no noise, no sound, no movement. Nothing but the silence of death as Sasuke Uchiha stared at the two dead bodies beside him.

The first body had light pink hair, a color that was shocking and unusual, though at the moment it was thick and matted, the color darkened beyond recognition with blood. Her eyes would normally be shining a bright vibrant green, always shining with hope and emotions but at the moment her eyes were dull and lifeless in death. She was Sakura Haruno…the only woman who'd ever looked at me as more than an object to win or kill. She'd grown very strong in the last few years, powerful and strong enough to gain a reputation other than her apprentice to Tsunade status.

The second body was the one that caused him the most pain however. The face was exhausted, the body mangled. He looked down at the body and felt a wave of anger unlike any he had ever felt before. But beneath that anger was a strong sense of regrets and despair. He touched a hand to the once blond hair and trailed a finger down the whisker marks on his friends cheek. Naruto Uzumaki…the container of the nine-tailed demon. He was a bundle of determination, fire, and strength. He had been his best friend. They'd both been friends.

And now they were dead.

Sasuke looked up at the man who had killed them and felt his feelings of regret grow until they threatened to bring him to his knees. Orochimaru…the man he had gone to for power, to learn and gain strength…he'd attacked the village with his other sound ninjas. Sasuke had no idea how, but Orochimaru'd managed to get enough ninja on the inside to attack them from the inside.

If he'd listened…if he'd never fled the village, if he'd stayed when Naruto had stopped him…He pushed his regrets aside and let the anger strength until all he felt was the need to bleed the man before him.

A flash of pink and green. "Sasuke! I am so glad you're back! Even under these circumstances."

Within hours of the attack the Village Hidden in the Leaves had been utterly destroyed. When Sasuke had realized what Orochimaru had been up to, he'd flown to the village to try to help them. He might have left, but his loyalty was always and would always be to the Leaf Village. They'd loved him when he'd hated himself. Orochimaru had killed Naruto and Sakura when they'd stumbled across Orochimaru and Sasuke fighting; they'd died trying to help him.

"Heh! I knew you couldn't stay away teme!" A whiskered grin.

"Orochimaru…you are going to die." Sasuke growled standing and moving around the mangled bodies of his two friends.

"Now, now Sasuke…you can't kill me." Orochimaru tsked stalking closer his tongue swirling around his lips.

A flare of red, "I am yours to free now Sasuke. Now that my Naruto is dead. Give me the life of the snake."

Sasuke laughed lifting one hand to reveal an orange chakra swirling around it. "I don't have to." He released the chakra and it exploded outward. When the smoke cleared Sasuke stood on the head of Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox. "He shall do it for me."

"You stupid human…how dare you attack my Naruto." The voice of the fox was loud enough that everyone in the village stopped to cover their ears and scream. The sound ninja's had begun to celebrate their victory, began to let their guard down now that every Leaf ninja they saw was nothing but a pile of meat and bones.

"I thought that the death of that foolish boy would make you happy fox. Now you are free to slaughter." Orochimaru bowed low in an attempt to placate the demon but he tried to flee when one of the demon's tails wrapped around him, effectively rendering him utterly useless.

"That is why you are stupid." Kyuubi growled. With a roar he sent a blast of fire strong enough to destroy the last survivors and reduce the village to ash. Orochimaru didn't have time to scream as the fox opened his mouth and sent the stream of fire straight at him, his body disintegrated within seconds.

When the world had calmed again Sasuke leapt to the ground beside the only two bodies that had survived the conflagration. He ran his hand gently down their cheeks and slowly he turned to look up at the fox. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him." He bowed low to the demon, his eyes stinging with unshed tears.

Years ago he'd met the fox through Naruto's mind and since their meeting, the Kyuubi had always been able to visit him in his own mind. They'd grown to have a mutual respect for each other though Sasuke understandably held more respect for the fox than the fox held for the Uchiha. During one of their many conversations Sasuke had vowed to protect Naruto with his life.

"Though it might be too late…he is my best friend. I will keep him safe for you Kyuubi." A solemn vow.

Kyuubi's tails swished violently behind him then slowly stilled. "There is still a way for you to protect him."

Sasuke looked up his eyes wide with wonder and hope. "How Kyuubi? I'll do anything to take back the mistakes I've made. To restore what I helped destroy…"

"There is a forbidden jutsu…it will send you into the past to the first day I became aware of your presence." Kyuubi explained lowering his head to Sasuke's level. His red eyes bore into Sasuke's and Sasuke trembled beneath his wise gaze. The years had mellowed the once angry angsty boy into a man who regretted…regretted so many things.

"To when we first met? That isn't far back enough." Sasuke muttered thinking of their first face to face meeting years after he had been in Orochimaru's clutches.

"To when I first became aware of you…"Kyuubi corrected. "The day I escaped on the bridge in the Country of Waves."

Sasuke looked up at the fox his eyes wide. "You can do that?" At the foxes nod he straightened and nodded. "Do it."

"You have no second thoughts do you? You realize you will be back in the body you had then, your skills might disappear but you will remember." Kyuubi explained leaning down toward the small man.

"I only need to remember." Sasuke responded quietly and closed his eyes as Kyuubi began the jutsu.

"Forbidden Jutsu: Reverse Time!" Kyuubi shouted and Sasuke felt a large force of chakra slam into his chest sending him reeling backwards.

He felt the world around him tremble and whorl and for a moment he let himself get lost in his memories. For over seven years he had lived under Orochimaru. He'd spent the last four regretting his desertion of the Leaf village and wondering where it had all gone wrong.

A dark regret, "If I had never left..."

When he'd left, he'd been so certain that he had to leave, had no choice if he wanted to get the power to kill his brother. And in some way he was right. He had killed his brother but it was bitter ashes in his mouth. The Hokage had ordered Itachi to kill the traitorous clan. For a long time Sasuke had hated the village for taking his family away but in his heart he understood why they'd done it. The Uchiha's were harsh no matter what Sasuke had wanted to believe. They demanded perfection at the cost of pleasure, power at the cost of lives. They were almost exactly like Orochimaru.

No wonder he wanted one of them so bad.

But Sasuke also knew that a big part of the reason he had left the village after Orochimaru was the curse seal, it infected his mind and body, like a drug he had to have more of. It compelled him to go to Orochimaru. Fortunately where he was being sent was before the curse seal ever happened. Plus in the time with Orochimaru he'd learned how to remove the curse. His eyes almost opened into the rush of images around him at the thought of how much he now knew about Orochimaru and the places his bases were. Now I can destroy him before he gets the chance to do anything to those I love. He began to think of people with the curse mark that wanted it removed and realized there was only one person besides him that hated the mark: Anko Mitarashi.

With a lurch the world righted himself and he groaned at the intense pain his body was in. Time to make things right.

A determined man.

Note 12/1/09:

Yes, thank you, I realize that Sasuke and Kyuubi are acting different from the manga and anime. I wrote them that way so I can't imagine why'd there'd be an assumption that I didn't notice...

They are the way they are because that is how I wanted them to develop. Don't like it, just don't read it.

Thanks! :)

Note 1/29/10

Thank you Sarah1281 who noticed a slip up in this chapter where I wrote both Sasuke and Orochimaru as killing Itachi. My bad!

AUTHORS NOTE 6/17/11: I am gettiing really tired of people who read nine chapters and complain at me so I'm adding this here and at the end of the latest chapter. This story IS Sasuke/Naruto, it is pretty much PRE-slash/yaoi and only happy feelings of comfort and friendship. ALSO, I noted ORIGINALLY that I was only following up to around where Itachi died in Canon, I am pretending that nothing after that ever happened! I KNOW Orochimaru couldn't really do all he does in this, I DO NOT CARE. It's AU. If this bothers you just don't read. I'm sorry for ranting but I am annoyed.