Thank boomvroomshroom for his wonderful work on this chapter! Long life to all Betas! :D

I don't own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi would have two little kids with an OC Uchiha.

EDIT: Fixed again, hopefully better, from the grand wisdom granted by the experience of writing fifty chapters of this story. My style does get better, dattebayo!

Prologue: Do I look like I want to die?

On that day, it rained.

Looming gray clouds stormed overhead like there was no tomorrow.

Because there wasn't.

Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, was staring at the sky with lifeless azure eyes. His sunshine hair was splattered with blood - whose blood was anyone's guess.

He laid in the middle of the ruins of Konoha. His comrades' corpses were scattered around him, all in different states of integrity - and some body parts crushed under cracked chimneys, or shattered walls.

Sasuke Uchiha had a gaping wound right where his heart once was, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan opened forever at the world above him, unseeing. Sakura Haruno had her body split in two halves, hands covered in blood during her attempt to piece together her severed spine. Shino Aburame and Tenten were both burnt to a crisp, nearly unrecognizable if it weren't for his dark glasses and her weapons. Hinata Hyuuga was covered by several gashes and cuts, her eyes carved out of their sockets…

The list ran on for far too long. There were countless shinobi of the Shinobi Alliance - from Iwa, Kiri, Suna, Kumo. Bloodied and skewered and dead, some torn apart by vicious roots and others scorched beyond recognition.

All those that came from their villages to support Konoha, all dead.

There was only one figure standing.

Kakashi Hatake.

He didn't have his left arm anymore - that had been lost around the end of that grueling fight, and the pain and shock of the amputation had been so great he had fallen unconscious, his chakra sputtering as it fought to keep his body alive despite the various injuries he had sustained.

But now he was awake, wishing he were dead instead.

His mask was gone, forever lost to the cold wind sweeping through the remnants of his home.

Somehow, the bleeding ceased to a too slow drop of blood, leaving him the last man standing.

He limped his way towards his usually-too-cheerful student. Kakashi had nicknamed him 'The number-one knuckleheaded unpredictable shinobi on Earth', back at the time where he was an obnoxious and loud orange brat, still a fresh genin with a childish crush and an Eternal Rivalry with the "Rookie of the year".

Back at the time when 'Earth' was still 'Earth'.

This?

This was Hell.

Kakashi managed a small smile, remembering all of Team 7's attempts to see his face. Then he looked at their corpses - gone, dead, bleeding, and Kakashi hadn't fought hard enough to save them - and the urge to cry his heart out threatened to shatter what remained of his psyche.

He resisted: he would waste too much energy. Instead, he reached for his Sensei's dead son. He cradled him so tightly that he expected to hear an indignant "Kaka-sensei! You're choking me! Don't hug me – dattebayo!" escape the cold lips of the boy.

'You're going to cry yourself to death. Smooth, Hatake,' Kakashi thought as tears begun to fall on Naruto's whiskered cheeks. 'What will everyone think of it?'

Immediately after, he answered his own question. 'There isn't anyone left to care.'

The Kyuubi no Youko had just experienced the most awful experience he ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

His host, that ever-cheerful brat, the only one to acknowledge him and thank him for his chakra and his existence, had died. The water in the sewer-like mind was slowly freezing, the seal still open but impenetrable, like mocking him for his helplessness.

He tried to take over the body, fueled by his instict to survive, but without its soul it was too taxing even for Kurama. His nine tails waved in frustration: what could he do?

He sure as hell wasn't going to wait for the sewer to freeze over and his chakra to disperse and reform after a decade, if there still was a world to speak of. He just wouldn't.

However, there was a jutsu he could try: the Jikan no Fujin. But he needed another chakra to act like an anchor. Kurama didn't want to lose himself in the Time Stream, after all - he wanted to live.

When the brat's sensei tightly held the corpse, Kurama felt like his prayer-like curses have been answered. Still, the Hatake wouldn't survive long if the Kyuubi didn't act fast - and then, all would be forever lost.

Kurama started to gather all the chakra he could muster, absorbing all he could from the mourning sensei and managing to tap into Kakashi's Life Chakra reserves. Depending on how much chakra he gathered, they would travel farther and farther up the timestream.

'Farther is better,' Kurama decided, nodding to himself. 'He'll thank me once he regains awareness.'

After gathering every drop of chakra, the Kyuubi no Youko scribbled with lightning speed the forbidden seal on the already forming ice, overloading it with chakra.

Kakashi wasn't too sure why his already worn chakra reserves were depleting like this.

When this odd phenomenon extended to his Life Chakra, he panicked.

The jonin frantically looked left and right, stretching his senses to feel if Kaguya, the demon goddess, wanted to enjoy his agony and cheerfully admire her handiwork that led to Konoha's fall. He had no doubt she was capable of such cruelty.

Then the Hatake felt a tug at his soul that drew him in Naruto's mindscrape, forever leaving its right body.

He found himself in front of the Kyuubi, his expression nearly frantic, looking like his pup was dying and he was ready to do anything to save him - which was probably not too far from the truth.

"Hatake," Kurama growled, "I need every drop of your chakra to throw us backwards in time. The more energy we use, the farther we go and more time for us to ensure Kit's survival. Are you going to help me save the little brat?"

Kakashi, although still shaken about the abrupt change of surroundings, replied instantly: "Of course I'll do anything I can to save Naruto!"

His expression was worn, but his mismatched eyes held unwavering determination.

The Kyuubi grinned, displaying a full fanged smirk that normally sent lesser humans running helplessly for their lives.

That day, however, Kakashi welcomed that expression with hope. Hope that he'd save his loved ones, even if he'd die trying.

Kurama absorbed all of Kakashi's chakra, pouring all of it and his own massive reserves into the seal with a roar.

"FUINJUTSU: JIKAN NO FUJIN!"

A/N: Hello everyone! I'll update if you tell me you like this story! Beware that English isn't my native language, so I could make mistakes… gomen (sorry) XP

If you need to know, "teme" means bastard (Naruto called Sasuke like that), "Fuinjutsu: Jikan no fujin" should mean "Sealing art: Seal of Time", "Kit" is the nickname Kurama gave Naruto (don't know when, but in other fanfic is like this :P)

However, like the description said, first fanfic ever! Before asking, read the description!

Beware the Kitsune's rage!

-Shiiroi Kitsune