Disclaimer:I don't own any of the characters for the anime series for Naruto
Today was the day that Konoha would fall. Actually the town had already been destroyed, but it was the remaining survivors that kept it alive. There were few survivors remaining and they were slowly dwindling into nothing as the war continued. Among these survivors was a pink haired girl with green eyes, a raven haired boy with red eyes, and a blonde haired boy with blue eyes. Each was in their twenties and each was fighting with all the strength they had, but they knew it was a lost cause.
Sakura, the pink haired girl, was busy tending to the wounds of Sasuke, the raven haired one when she looked up to see Naruto dash in front of her. She screamed as a man stabbed him with a poisoned kunai and Sasuke sprung to his feet ignoring the pain that his wounded shoulder caused him. He caught Naruto with his uninjured arm and lowered him to the ground as the man laughed. Sasuke stood and grinned wickedly at the man as he began to send more chakra to his eyes creating the Mangekyou Sharingan. With this technique he sent the man through 72 hours of a living hell and then killed him with a quick slash of his sword.
"Naruto can you hear me?" asked Sakura as she pulled him onto her lap. His body was convulsing in pain, but he opened his eyes to look at her anyway. There were two sighs of relief as Sasuke had just crouched next to him as well.
Naruto looked at the both of them before saying, "I'm going to die," with a small smile on his face, "I'm glad that I was able to spend my last moments with you guys."
"You shouldn't talk like that Naruto," said Sakura as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Yeah Naruto," said Sasuke as he reached out and stroked his cheek, "You're not going to die. We're going to survive and then tomorrow we'll celebrate your birthday together."
"We've lost," Naruto paused to cough up blood, "We've lost this battle Sasuke, Sakura. There's no way we could win now. We're too badly hurt and we're too tired. We cannot fight much longer." At this point Sakura was sobbing and Sasuke was clenching his fists so tightly that his nails began to draw blood.
"Naruto you're not supposed to be so pessimistic. You're the optimistic one on the team," sobbed Sakura.
"I still believe there is hope Sakura," answered Naruto, "This battle may be lost and we may die today, but I still believe that we can win it."
"I don't understand Naruto," said Sasuke, but as he looked down Naruto's eyes were lifeless. His body was thrust into Sasuke's hands as Sakura stood and ran behind him with tears still falling from her face. He could hear loud banging noises in the background and he knew that it was Sakura's super strength. He began to shake Naruto's lifeless form continuously trying to wake him up. "Come on Naruto wake up," he said but his voice cracked and his eyes became blurry with tears. Then the banging of Sakura's fists stopped. He turned his head to see behind him with Naruto still clutched in his arms. What he saw was Sakura's lifeless form falling in the middle of many dead ninjas with many more alive ninjas surrounding her.
Sasuke looked back to Naruto and placed him on the ground. "Naruto," he said, "I never told you this before now. I don't think I was ever really planning on telling you, but I want to tell you before I die." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Naruto's icy cold lips and whispered, "I love you. I always have and I always will." Then he stood and ran into the middle of the fight. He killed many of the ninjas who fought him until one exceptionally strong one finally caught him in the heart. He smiled as his soul left him.
Naruto awoke in an endless black abyss. "Where am I?" he asked himself as he looked around to try and find any clues to tell him his answer. He found nothing.
"You are nowhere," spoke a voice behind him. He turned quickly to see a beautiful woman with black hair and a red robe that framed her body nicely.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
"You are between space which means that you are nowhere." She spoke again.
Naruto nodded his head as he looked around again. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am the goddess of time and all things good," she said.
Naruto smiled happily as he heard this. Though his smile wasn't as big as they used to be when he was a child. He had grown out of them when Sasuke had left the village. They weren't real smiles anyway. They were just masks that covered up his pain. "Then you answered my call?" he asked. She nodded her head and he bowed deeply to her and said, "Thank you."
"You should not thank me yet little one," she said, "as I have yet to give you what you want from me. Please tell me what is your name and why have you called out to me."
"My name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, I am the successor for the Kyuubi no Youko, and I have asked you to come here because I want to be sent back to when I was younger."
The goddess looked skeptical as she heard the request. "And why should I grant this request when so many others have asked the same before you?" she asked.
"I do not wish for this to make my own life better. I just thought that so many people suffered needlessly and that if I go back in time I could save them. Perhaps I could even stop this war from starting," he answered quietly as he remembered the deaths of so many of his friends and others that he had never known. "Of course I am willing to give anything that you may want from me in return for this."
The goddess smiled as she listened to the boy's reasons. So many people before him had asked for this to change a mistake that they had made in their life in order to make it better. She had never met anyone so pure as to want to go back in time to make other lives better. "There is no need for payment, little one, because gods, goddesses, and demons have all been given my consent to move freely through time at least once without any payment, but they have to have good reason. Your reasons are pure hearted so I will grant you this wish."
Naruto smiled again, but then his smile turned into a frown. "Is it possible for me to be two others with me?" he asked quietly.
Again the goddess looked wary. "Who would you like to bring with you?" she asked.
"They are two of my team mates and I put my utter trust in them. They are Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."
"Why do you want to bring them with you?"
"Sakura is like a big sister to me. She always looks out for me, and," he paused for a moment then continued, "I used to think of Sasuke as a brother too, but now I know that my affections to him are different. I've realized that I love him…I guess this is my selfish request, but I will still be willing to give anything to allow them to come along with me."
Again the goddess was surprised. She had seen this boy's life. She had seen that he had to give up many things just to receive something. Perhaps it was time he received something without truly having to give anything. "I will grant both of your requests, little one," his eyes lit up, "and your payment will be that you have to live your life over again as do they."
"Thank you so much," he said with a very deep bow.
The goddess smiled. "You will still be able to do every jutsu that you were once able to, but you still have to train your body to bring it back to its old strength," he nodded, "Now be off with you," and with a wave of her hand Naruto fell unconscious.
Sasuke awoke with a start and he began to cry. Why had he been the only one to survive when both Naruto and Sakura were dead? He didn't even bother to hide his tears any longer as he used to. He just sat in the bed, which he didn't recognize, and cried.
"Sasuke, sweetie," came a woman's voice from the doorway, "What's wrong?" Sasuke's head shot up so fast that he thought he might get whiplash. He knew that voice. He would never forget that voice. There, coming towards him, was his mother. Sasuke looked around the room and realized that it was, in fact, his old room. He hadn't been here in so long that he didn't remember any of it. As he was looking around he caught a glimpse of his tiny 6 year-old body and jumped in shock. His mother crouched right in front of him and pulled him into a hug. "Sasuke? Did you have a bad dream?"
He nodded his head quietly and wrapped his tiny arms as far around his mother's waist that he could reach. Perhaps he was just dreaming all of that, but it seemed so real for some reason. His mother began to rock him back and forth while stroking his hair to make him calm down. He remembered Naruto doing this for him a couple of times when he would have horrible nightmares and he would do the same for Naruto. Could it really have just been a dream?
"Do you feel better now?" his mother asked as she stopped her rocking. He nodded and pulled his head back so he could wipe away his tears. She smiled and took out her handkerchief to help Sasuke clear away his tears. "Now that you're feeling better we should go down to breakfast so you aren't late to school." Sasuke nodded and followed her down the stairs.
In another part of town, closer to the ninja school, Naruto woke up in his old, dirty apartment. He grimaced as he looked at the mess. Contrary to popular belief, it was not littered with old ramen cups and dirty clothes. In truth Naruto cleaned his apartment every day, but every day the villagers would come back and destroy it again. He hated messes, but right now he could not be bothered by it. He was too happy by the fact that he was six again. That the goddess had granted his wish. He jumped from his bed, making sure not to touch the broken glass that littered his floor from the window, and stretched his small body. He would have to train a lot to get back the strength that he used to have, but he didn't mind, his fights didn't rely on strength. They relied on his deadly accuracy.
He turned to a door and opened it to reveal a small closet that stood out with orange. He cringed at the sight of all those ugly shirts. He wasn't quite old enough to get that disgusting orange jumpsuit, and for that he was happy. Naruto didn't really like orange. He thought it was beautiful on sunrises and sunsets, but orange clothes were not beautiful. The only reason he would wear the vile things was because he could not buy any other color from the shopkeepers. He dug through his closet and finally pulled out a white shirt with an orange swirl. It would have to do. It was the closest he could get to what he wanted to wear at the moment. Ever since he started getting more respect from the villagers he had changed his style. He had tried many different styles before he finally decided on wearing white clothes. Now white was his favorite color. He wore it as often as he could even though it was almost as bad for a ninja as orange.
He pulled on the white shirt and blue pants before heading out the door to see if Sasuke and Sakura still remembered him. He didn't even bother to try and find something to eat for breakfast because he knew that the only things he had in his fridge was spoiled milk and ramen. He had grown out of his ramen craze and now didn't like to eat it for every meal. He still loved ramen, but if he ate it too much his stomach would become ill and he would feel like his was going to be sick. So he left without breakfast. There was a soft click as the door shut, and Naruto walked away.