Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Retrograde

Chapter One

A cool hand pressed against the back of his neck, prompting the young man to look up at the person standing beside his slumped over form. He offered the old woman a half-hearted smile when he met her tired dark violet eyes. The little red panda draped around her shoulders glares down at him as her mistress slowly lowered herself to sit beside him on the plain wooden bench in one of the makeshift medical tents that had been erected hastily after the most recent attack.

"Where's that annoying optimism of yours at, boy?" the red panda snapped at him, jumping down from the woman's shoulders to sit on his knee. "This isn't the time to be despairing."

The familiar, deep raspy voice at the back of his head suddenly spoke, low and unintentionally menacing. "That little rodent is right, Naruto," Kurama agreed, speaking for the first time since the jinchūriki had woken.

Naruto nodded absently but stayed silent.

"Hush, Kazane," the woman gently scolded, patting the red panda's head once. "Don't listen to anything she says, Naruto."

He opened his mouth to respond, to disagree with her. To tell her that Kazane was right and that he and Kurama both agreed.

The last few weeks had been…the only way it could be described was a nightmare.

Everything had been fine only a few months ago, but then Sasuke had suddenly returned to the village with Sakura in tow. They had been beaten, bruised, and covered in blood when Sasuke had literally dropped them into the Hokage's office just as Kakashi had been about to send Naruto, Hinata, Lee, and Kiba off on what was supposed to be an A-rank mission in a joint effort with Suna.

Naruto could remember with sharp clarity the gasp of shock Hinata had let out when they had appeared as he'd jumped forward to help Sakura catch Sasuke before he hit the ground. His best friend was seconds away from passing out, but Sasuke had forced himself to stay conscious just a few seconds longer in order to say one word.

"Ōtsutsuki."

From there it had all just gone downhill.

The Elemental Nations had erupted in chaos in a matter of days after Sasuke and Sakura had returned to Konoha, bringing with them the horror story of facing members of the Ōtsutsuki clan who had attempted to steal Sasuke's Rinnegan once they'd sensed his Sixth Paths chakra.

It was war.

And it was even worse than the Fourth Shinobi World War just a little over three wars ago.

First, they attacked Kumogakure and extracted Gyūki from Killer B, killing him the process, before turning their attention to Konoha next to finish what they'd started with Sasuke. Three Ōtsutsuki clan members had appeared just as word of B's death had reached Naruto and the others. They had torn through the village, killing shinobi and civilians alike, uncaring of whoever got in their way.

Naruto and Sasuke had immediately gone out to face them in an effort to draw them away. It had turned into a long drawn out battle as the Ōtsutsukis tried desperately to steal their Sixth Paths chakra and to take Kurama away from Naruto like they had with B. The forests and lands surrounding Konoha had been torn apart and destroyed until only a wasteland remained. Their jutsus set fire to the land, caused floods, and created new land formations among a number of other things that made the area surrounding Konoha virtually unrecognizable.

Ultimately, they were able to defeat two of them and force the third one to retreat back to whatever dimension that they had come from.

But it wasn't enough.

Days after they had sent the third Ōtsutsuki packing, they'd returned with a small army that spread their chaos and destruction all throughout the continent. As a result, communication between the shinobi villages became difficult and near impossible. By the time they'd learned what had happened, that Suna, Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri had each been nearly decimated, it was too late. Their survivors and any of their remaining shinobi along with anyone else who had been victimized by the war had made their way to what remained of Konoha, each bringing with them their own horror stories.

Among those who had come to Konoha were countless shinobi Naruto had fought alongside during the last war, but there were unfamiliar faces he had never seen before too. That included the woman who sat beside him now. She had led a large group of people to the village that was composed of a large number of missing-nin from all over the shinobi world with the majority being civilians from the Land of Fire.

Naruto's first thought when he saw her was that she had the same pretty red hair as his mom, making him wonder if the woman was related to her or was a survivor of the destruction of Uzushiogakure. He had shared his thoughts with Hinata and she agreed with him, noting that they had similar faces. In the days after the woman had arrived, he had decided to get to know her better and had learned that her name was Fumiyo and that she was in fact an Uzumaki like him.

In between attacks and strategy meetings, Naruto and Hinata spent what little time they could get their hands on asking Fumiyo all kinds of questions. They asked her if she was trained in the famed fūinjutsu the Uzumaki clan was known for. What Uzushiogakure was like before it was destroyed. If she knew of any other members of their clan.

It wasn't until one night when the three of them were joined by Sakura and Sasuke that a real connection was made between Naruto and Fumiyo.

"You said you hadn't always lived in the Hidden Eddy Village, Fumiyo," Sakura begun. "Then, where did you?"

Fumiyo's sharp purple eyes met Sakura's and a sad smile curved at her mouth. "Here, actually," she answered. Her gaze fell to the small fire at their feet, casting dark shadows on her lightly wrinkled face. "I immigrated here to Konoha before Uzushio was destroyed. I'm technically a Leaf shinobi."

Naruto nearly stopped breathing. No, that couldn't be true. Then that…that meant… She, Fumiyo, was…could have been…

Slight pressure against his palm distracted him from his jumbled thoughts. He glanced down and met his wife's worried gaze. Naruto gently squeezed her hand back in response and shook his head once at her silent question. But Hinata saw right through him easily. She frowned and opened her mouth to voice her concern, but Sasuke's next question silenced her.

"Hn. If that's true, then where've you been these last twenty years?" he asked, his one visible eye watching her intently. "Where were you during the chaos of the last war?"

Sakura began to apologize for her husband's rude questions but Fumiyo easily waved her off with a halfhearted smile. "It's fine. Sasuke asked perfectly reasonable questions. I would do the same if I were in your position."

She paused for a moment before speaking again. "I spent most of the last twenty years wandering around the Elemental Nations. Exploring. Meeting new people. Helping whoever I crossed paths with that needed assistance. Performing the occasional mission the Third Hokage would send me… But mostly I was grieving," Fumiyo told them. A flash of pain crossed her face briefly before disappearing. It was so fast that if Naruto hadn't been intently watching her every move and hanging onto her every word he would have missed it.

"For who?" he asked, careful not to put any emotion behind the words.

Hinata's warm hands wrapped around his tightly and she leaned her body into his, a sign of silent support that he was grateful for. He suspected what the old woman's words were going to be but doubt still gnawed at him. Getting his hopes up only to have them crushed would hurt, especially if he was right and ultimately didn't like what she had to say.

"For my niece and her husband and their child. They died the night the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village," she answered, unaware of the tears in Naruto's eyes or the quiet gasps of breath from Hinata and Sakura. "I had been outside of Konoha for the majority of Kushina's pregnancy on a secret mission in the Land of Snow. I had returned home too late. The village had been destroyed and there were many casualties, more than I had anticipated there being. All I could think was 'this isn't right'. Those two would have taken every precaution to ensure her seal wouldn't break during labor, but it had somehow happened anyway…

"When I finally got my audience with Lord Third, he told me that Kushina and Lord Fourth along with their child had all died in the attack. Those two protect the village like any other Leaf shinobi would, but all I heard when they told me that was that my family had died." She laughed suddenly, the sound hollow and filled with no joy. "I remember that old pervert Jiraiya tried to comfort me, telling me that I should be proud that my niece had died honorably. I wanted to hit him for telling me that. Yell and scream that the last remaining members of my clan had just been taken away from me. Instead I just asked for a proper burial for them and left the village before anyone could stop me."

Sasuke's brow furrowed in confusion and he frowned at Fumiyo, his eyes darting to quickly glance at Naruto. "Didn't you want to see the bodies?"

Fumiyo shook her head once mechanically. "No. No, I didn't, Sasuke," she told him, her dark gaze firmly planted on the stone carving of the Fourth Hokage's face. "I couldn't bear to look upon any more faces of my fallen clansmen. I had done enough of that when I went to Uzushio after its destruction... I don't even know what Kushina's child looked like. Or even if the baby was a girl or a boy." She sighed and turned to face Naruto with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But that's all in the past now. What matters is the here and now," she murmured, reaching out to pat his cheek.

No longer able to hold himself back any longer, Naruto reached up to keep her hand there. The tears that had welled up in his eyes flowed freely now and he held her hand desperately, letting himself soak up its warmth against his skin.

"The baby was a boy," he whispered, meeting her startled gaze.

He watched as tears welled up in her eyes. Something he thought to be hope shined back at him as she gently took his face in her hands and stared intently into his eyes. A warm tingling feeling shot across his skin where she touched him as he felt her chakra gently bump against his own. Almost immediately after their chakra touched a happy smile spread across her face.

"Your chakra's warm just like Kushina's," she softly cried, pulling him into her arms.

From there the conversation had become full of tears of joy and the pain of time lost, but that moment had been one of the few bright spots for Naruto.

After their revelation had been made, Konoha had been attacked three more times. The number of casualties had steadily increased until only half of their people had survived. Everyone was steadily losing hope that this would all end and go back to the way things once were. The peace forged after the Fourth War seemed like a distant memory now, especially when all of the other villages had been destroyed and Konoha now served as a home for refugees.

The most recent attack was just as devastating, but from what Auntie Fumiyo had told him no one had died. It was a relief. That hadn't been something he'd heard in a long time.

But it didn't change the fact that they'd already lost so many.

Naruto let out a weary sigh and met his great aunt's eyes again. Worry reflected back at him in her violet eyes and he decided to leave the conversation for another time. Instead he asked something that had bugged him the moment he'd woke and realized he was miraculously still in one piece.

"What happened after that Ōtsutsuki tried to steal my chakra?"

Fumiyo's brow furrows, the hand on his neck moving down to rest on his back. "You don't remember?" At the shake of his head she let out a soft sigh. "Sasuke, Hinata, and Kakashi all went to your rescue once they'd realized what was happening. Sasuke got that bastard off you but he was still intent on stealing Kurama and your chakra. Once I saw them, I released my sealing chains and created a barrier."

Her words triggered his memory and he remembered seeing Hinata's worried face, tears in her pale eyes, hovering over his. Hearing Kakashi-sensei barking out orders to people around them. Behind them, Sasuke's Susanoo fighting high in the sky against the Ōtsutsuki Naruto had been facing. And then flowing gold chains suddenly shooting up into the sky. After that, nothing.

"Your barrier went between Sasuke and that Ōtsutsuki clansman," he remembered, prompting her to nod.

"Yes. And from what we were able to tell, if I had hesitated just a second longer there would have been more injuries than there were."

He nodded absently, glancing around the small tent they were in. "Where's Hinata?"

"She went to help Sakura," she tells him, gently rubbing his back before standing from the bench. "I'll go tell her you're awake now," she says, holding out her arm. Kazane throws Naruto one last baleful glare that he ignores before jumping from his knee and running up Fumiyo's arm back to her original place on her shoulder.

Fumiyo hesitates for a moment, staring at him, before shaking her head. His great aunt presses a kiss to his forehead before finally leaving the tent.

The next night a war council was held with the remaining Kage and other high-level shinobi attending. Sasuke stood with Naruto beside Kakashi and the Fifth Hokage in what used to be the council meeting room inside Hokage Tower along with Fumiyo, Shikamaru and a handful of other Konoha shinobi. The Fourth Raikage, Fifth Kazekage, Chōjūrō, and Kurotsuchi along with her father Kitsuchi each stood as the heads of their respective villages in the room with some of their own shinobi.

They were arguing about what their next moves should be. Some were in favor of escaping to another dimension using his Rinnegan. Others wanted to continue fighting against the Ōtsutsuki clan until they won the war.

The first idea was quickly shot down once Sasuke made it clear that they would follow no matter what dimension they ran to.

And the second forced Kakashi to repeat what he had been saying since day one.

"We have to find a solution to end this once and for all," he all but yells over the raised voices of everyone arguing amongst themselves. "Fighting them until our last dying breaths has done nothing for us except increase the number of people who have died. In case you have forgotten, the hundreds of people in this village are the last of us. If we keep fighting like we have, they will win and we will lose. Finding a way to stop them – permanently – is the only way."

"But damnit, Hokage," the Raikage raged, slamming his fist down on the table in front of him. The Iwa shinobi standing near him jumped when it cracked beneath his hand. "We still do not know what they want with us! We've been fighting those damn foreign shinobi for weeks on end and nothing has changed."

Fumiyo suddenly shifted beside him, drawing his attention. Sasuke glances at Naruto's great aunt out of the corner of his eye. She shook her head once and let out an exasperated sigh before crossing her arms. "There's still one possibility we haven't considered," she said, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"And what would that be, Fumiyo?" Lady Fifth prompted when she didn't continue.

The Kazekage leaned forward in his chair. "Yes, tell us your thoughts, Lady Uzumaki," he seconded.

Fumiyo's gaze sweeps across the many faces in the room, her mouth set in a grim line. "I'm sure at least a handful of you have already thought of this but refrained from speaking it aloud for fear that it was true," she began flatly. "Since the very beginning, they have been stealing and harvesting the chakra of our fellow shinobi. And why have they been doing that? Probably so that they can become stronger, stronger than they already are. I don't think they're here to subjugate us and turn us into their slaves like some have you have proposed before.

"They're here to take our chakra, plain and simple," she said, raising her voice so she could be heard over the sudden outburst among the shinobi gathered in the room. "They do not care if we live or die when they steal it – they probably prefer it. For all we know, the Ōtsutsukis are gathering chakra in order to fight something or someone more powerful than they are. Or they're trying to complete what Kaguya started." Fumiyo shrugged, her normally kind violet eyes dark and emotionless. "I don't know what they're doing, but with every passing day I'm starting to believe that's what is going on."

Sasuke stared at Fumiyo in surprise. This was a different side of her that he never would have suspected her to have. Normally, Naruto's great aunt only had positive, kind things to say to match her sunny personality despite the war going on around them. That kindness was what made it easy to see that the two were related. But this suddenly bleak – critical and analytical, but still bleak – outlook on their situation made him realize that beyond her kindness and the shadow of her grief that clung to her like a cloak and the quick to anger spirit that was infamous among the Uzumaki clan, Fumiyo was more than she let on.

Fumiyo stepped forward until she was standing between the two Hokages. She was yelling now in order to be heard over the panicking shinobi in the room. "If we had been better prepared for this, maybe we wouldn't have lost as many of our fellow shinobi. But what's done is done. We have to keep moving forward if we're to have any chance of winning. No more running around in circles like we have been."

"If only we'd had more warning," Shikamaru says, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully before snorting under his breath. "Too bad we don't have a way to turn back time," he drawled out sarcastically, scrubbing his hand across his face. "What a drag…"

"But we do have a way," Tsunade suddenly exclaimed.

Sasuke frowned. As far as he was aware, there was no such jutsu or ninja tool that could turn back time. It was impossible. He was sure if there was a way to send someone into the past or undo some event, Orochimaru would have found it and abused the jutsu so that he was the victor every time. If the old snake had his hands on something like that he wouldn't have tried to steal Sasuke's body.

Fumiyo shook her head firmly. "No. It's too late to use that jutsu, Tsunade." She glances around the room at the assembled shinobi. "And even if that window of opportunity was still available to us, I wouldn't suggest using it. You've seen what happened to those who stole the jutsu and tried to use it."

Tsunade grimaced at whatever memory her words triggered. "You're right. The risk is too great."

"What jutsu are you talking about?" the Raikage demanded.

"One of my clan's forbidden techniques," Fumiyo answered stiffly. "It's a fūinjutsu that utilizes some of the properties of space-time jutsu. Basically, it's a way to send a person into the past."

A huge uproar exploded at her words as everyone started talking amongst themselves and begun to bombard Fumiyo with questions and demands for her to teach them the jutsu.

"Silence!" a deep gravelly voice suddenly called out from beside Sasuke, shocking everyone.

Sasuke blinks and turns to look at his friend beside him. Naruto's features were more feral looking than usual with dark orange-red eyes and vertical pupils. It even looked like his teeth had elongated into sharp fangs. He blinked again, stunned by what he was seeing.

"Let her speak, annoying humans," Nine-Tails ordered through Naruto's mouth. Sasuke watched as his arms moved to cross against his chest while the fox's eyes swept across the room to glare at everyone. He could have sworn he saw the shadow of the beast's tails moving lazily on the wall behind him. "I'd like to hear what Naruto's clansman has to say about this jutsu of hers."

Naruto blinked, and he was himself again, his eyes their normal blue now. "Sorry about that," he apologized with a sheepish grin, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Kurama was getting a little impatient, ya know. He was threatening to start eating people."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Loser," he muttered under his breath with a smirk. "Like that's what was really going on."

Naruto grinned. "Shut up."

"You know I'm right."

A throat clearing distracted them from the beginnings of their bickering, and they looked up to see Fumiyo eying them impatiently. She frowned at them before turning away. "As I was saying. This jutsu allows a person to be sent into the past. But only so far. The furthest anybody has gone is twelve hours, and we're well passed that now. Obviously."

"How do you know that's the limit?" Gaara asked.

A bland smile curls at her mouth. "Because I've used it."

"You never told me this!" Tsunade gasped. "You and Grandmother both said that the Heavenly Body Sealing Technique had never been successfully performed. That only one of our Uzumaki ancestors had ever been able to do it." She grasped Fumiyo's hand in her own and started to poke and prod at her arm the way Sasuke had seen Sakura did when she was examining a patient. "The body of the person who cast the jutsu unsuccessfully was always shredded to pieces, the chakra pathways destroyed or simply just gone. Like they'd been ripped out. You showed no signs of this when I saw you last."

Tsunade lowered Fumiyo's arm and stared at her in awe. "This is incredible," she breathed out.

"Yes," she readily agreed, gently pulling her arm from the other woman's grip. "But it doesn't change the fact that it's an extremely dangerous forbidden jutsu that's well passed being a viable option at this point in time."

Chaos broke out again as the shinobi in the room begun bombarding Fumiyo with questions and making demands for her to teach them the jutsu. As it quickly escalated, Kakashi quickly ended the war council.

Sasuke and Naruto escorted Fumiyo from the room and out of the building. By some miracle they'd made it all the way back to what remained of Naruto and Hinata's house without being followed. Inside Sakura and Hinata were sat at the dining table nursing cups of tea in front of them. Both women looked up at their arrival, abandoning whatever conversation they were having.

Without any hesitation, Sakura shoved away from the table and threw herself at Sasuke. Prepared, he easily caught her and held her tight against his chest, burying his nose in her soft hair. The familiar smell of antiseptic immediately assaulted his senses, letting him know she'd spent the last few hours treating the wounded, and he sighed, hugging his wife closer to him.

Getting attacked by that Ōtsutsuki clansman three weeks into their new life as husband and wife was the last thing Sasuke had expected to happen when they'd left Konoha. The only things on his mind were his immense happiness that Sakura had agreed to marry him despite his immeasurable flaws and the thought of the children they would have.

It was all like a distant memory now, though.

One minute they were walking through a quiet grove of trees near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, discussing what they were going to have for dinner that night, and the next it was chaos.

He remembered every single detail of what had happened with sharp clarity, but it was Sakura's expression when they'd realized what was really happening that stuck with him. Resolve mixed with fury and something he didn't dare want to believe was fear had spread across her face when she'd released her yin seal. And the worst part was that Sasuke knew that it wasn't for herself.

If his life was in danger and she was there to witness it, Sakura wouldn't hesitate to defend him. She would fight until her last dying breath to prevent anything happening to him regardless of the danger to her own life.

He loved that about her, but he also hated it.

She didn't seem to understand that if she got hurt – or worse – trying to protect him it would tear him apart.

If Sakura died...No. He didn't even want to contemplate the thought.

Sasuke tightened his arm around her shoulders and hugged Sakura tighter to him before releasing her. Her arms lingered around his neck for a moment afterwards and he watched her watch him before she finally lifted up on her toes to press a soft kiss to his lips that he eagerly returned. Sakura pulled away first and he watched with pleasure as a blush overtook her face.

"How was the war council?" she asked after a moment, her face still slightly pink.

Before he can say, Fumiyo answers for him. "Terrible," she declared agitatedly, tying the long sleeves of her yukata back. "It was terrible and ultimately pointless. We made no progress toward ending this war." She sighs loudly as she pulls her long red hair back with a scowl. "And to top it off, I said something I shouldn't have."

Naruto sat at the table with Hinata in his lap. "It probably would have come out eventually no matter what, Auntie," he said with a shake of his head.

Her scowl deepened. "I still shouldn't haven't have said it," she repeated as she washed her hands. "Now I'm going to have people bothering me left and right about the damn thing."

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone came tonight," Sasuke remarked, rolling his eyes. There had been quite a few shinobi in that room who looked desperate enough to ask despite Fumiyo's dismissal of using the jutsu. They were fools. Like she had said, it was already too late to do it. And that was assuming they didn't kill themselves performing the jutsu in the first place.

Sakura looked between the three of them in confusion, her brow slightly furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"A forbidden fūinjutsu of my clan," Fumiyo sighed as she tied a clean apron around her waist. She opened the refrigerator and took out some vegetables. "Shikamaru said something about reversing time and the conversation led to me opening my mouth and mentioning that I had used a jutsu that could do that," she explained as she moved from the sink to the chopping board at her elbow. "So, I apologize in advance for any unwelcome guests we may have."

"I'm sure it won't be as bad you think," Hinata tried to reassure as she stood to help Fumiyo with dinner. "Maybe they'll be kind enough not to bother us at home."

But Sasuke could hear the doubt in her voice. She didn't believe that any more than the rest of them.

"Hn," he grunted, "We'll see."

In the days that followed, a never-ending stream of shinobi would show up at Naruto and Hinata's doorstep demanding to speak with Fumiyo. They came at dawn before anyone had even thought about leaving for the day. They would follow them around the village and lie in wait until the opportunity to ambush her would arise. If they were at home, they would take turns knocking on the door to see who would get in.

Just so she could leave the house, Auntie Fumiyo needed to disguise herself as either Hinata, Sakura or Sasuke. And with the number of people showing up unannounced, everyone would take turns answering the door while Fumiyo pretended not to be there. Because of this the lawn was now covered with new craters and the trees were half uprooted. And if Naruto wasn't paying attention, he'd walk right past his own home because of the massive genjutsu Sasuke would put up around it. But more often than not he would return from his patrol of the barrier to find some poor shinobi screaming their head off as they ran away from the Uchiha.

After dinner one night a week after the war council, Naruto was sitting beside his aunt as she demonstrated how to create special storage scrolls that needed keys in order to open them. She was explaining to him and Hinata that it utilized their clan's unique sealing technique, pointing out the familiar swirl pattern of the Uzumaki clan symbol at the center, when there was a knock at the door.

"Naruto, it's your turn," Sakura called out without looking up from the scroll in her lap.

He nodded, pressing a quick kiss to Hinata's temple as he stood. "Yeah, I know."

"Don't scare them too badly," Hinata whispered softly and he agreed.

As Naruto slowly made his way to the front door, he heard a low huff of irritation at the back of his mind. "This is getting old," Kurama grumbled. He could picture the old fox rolling his eyes. "You'd think they'd have learned by now..."

He let out a low sigh. "They're desperate, Kurama," he said as he prepared for the switch. "They think Fumiyo's jutsu will save them."

"Then they're fools," the fox decided.

Naruto and Kurama switched as he reached out to open the door. But when they finally do, they're both stunned into silence when they see who it is.

"Hokage," Kurama says, surprised, as they stare.

Kakashi shook his head at the use of his title. "I'm not here as the Hokage right now," he said with a wave. "Just as your old sensei." When they say nothing, Kakashi finally takes a good look at the person standing in front of him. His brow furrowed for a second and his eyes widened. "Nine-Tails?"

Kurama nodded. "Hokage," he greeted before switching with Naruto again.

"So, the rumors are true then," Kakashi said, glancing over at the destroyed lawn.

Naruto laughed sheepishly as he stepped back to let him inside. "Yeah, after all the trouble the first day we kinda got a little frustrated. Fumiyo can't even leave the house without disguising herself as one of the others, you know."

"But not as you because of your massive chakra signature," Kakashi guessed as he followed Naruto into the living room. "I didn't realize it was this bad."

Fumiyo snorted as she put down her brush. "Of course it is, Lord Sixth. Everyone believes the Heavenly Body Sealing Technique will send them back to a time when this war wasn't happening even though it'll probably kill them." She pulled a new scroll from the pile and unrolled it. "I hope you haven't come to ask about it too."

"Well, actually..." Kakashi begun, scratching at the back of his head.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.

A frown spread across Naruto's face as he silently wondered whether he was going to have to kick his old sensei – the Hokage – out of his home. He really didn't want to do that, but he would if he had to. From the little his great aunt had told him about their clan's forbidden jutsu, it was clear that it was extremely dangerous and all but useless now even if it was performed correctly. And now that Kakashi had come, Naruto shared Fumiyo's wish of never mentioning the jutsu.

"You can't be serious," Sasuke demanded, turning to glare at Kakashi from his seat next to Sakura on the couch. "You should know better."

Kakashi shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no. I don't want to know how to perform the jutsu," he reassured. "I just have a question about it. Or rather something adjacent to it."

Fumiyo silently eyed Kakashi, her fingers steepled beneath her chin. An unreadable expression crossed her face that Naruto couldn't decipher. He had half expected her to attack him and throw him out of the house with a short burst of anger that rivaled Sakura's wrath. But this lack of emotion seemed worse. It was almost like he was waiting for a paper bomb to go off.

"What is it you want to ask?" she finally said.

"Could you create a new sealing jutsu like the Heavenly Body Sealing Technique?" Kakashi asked, stepping forward to stand in front of her. "One that could send the caster further into the past?"

"You've spent the last week talking to Tsunade, haven't you?" Fumiyo wondered, tipping her head to the side as she continued to stare at him. "Let me guess. She told you all the gruesome details about the bodies of the shinobi who attempted to steal the jutsu that surfaced during our youth. And I bet she speculated about why I was able to successfully cast it." A smile curved at her mouth. "Am I right?"

He nodded readily. "Yes. And she reminded me that you were well known for creating new sealing techniques."

"Tell me…Is this the Hokage ordering me to make this fūinjutsu or is this Kakashi Hatake making a formal request of the Uzumaki clan?" Fumiyo smiled again and it almost seemed threatening to Naruto. "Which is it?"

"Auntie—"

She silenced him with a look. "Answer my question, Kakashi, and I may give you the answer you seek to your own."

"Hypothetically," Kakashi begun, "if it was an order, what would you do?"

"I'd do something unforgivable because I'd believe the jutsu would be abused in some unimaginable way – much like the Heavenly Body Sealing Technique – considering the air of desperation among us…That's hypothetically, of course," she said with false cheer.

"And if it was a request?"

Fumiyo straightens in her seat, her violet eyes serious. "I'd tell you that I can just as easily accept your request as I could deny it, Kakashi," she told him, carefully folding her hands in front of her. "I'd recognize that you had taken the time to consider what it was that you were really asking me to do. And as a proud member of the Uzumaki clan, assuming I accepted the request, I'd ensure that the seal I produced was tailored to your specifications to the best of my abilities and worked the way it was designed to while eliminating any danger to the caster."

Kakashi answered immediately with no hesitation. "Then, Lady Uzumaki, I wish to formally ask you to create a jutsu that will send the people in this room back to a time before this war in order to prevent it from happening." He bowed deeply at the waist as he said this before straightening again to look Fumiyo in the eye.

"And does this include you?"

"No, but it includes you, Lady Fumiyo."

Sakura jumped to her feet, her medical scrolls crashing to the floor. "Why not?" she demanded. "Why won't you come with us?"

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "I'm still the Hokage, Sakura. The people in this village will need me on the off chance you fail," he told her softly.

She stepped forward to argue some more but Sasuke silently stopped her. Naruto wanted to argue too but knew he couldn't. He'd make the same decision no matter how much it hurt in the end.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Hinata questioned, speaking for the first time since Kakashi had arrived. "It almost seems wrong. Like we're running away."

"I don't know," he admitted after a moment. "But it's the only long-term solution I can think of to end this war."

Fumiyo abruptly stood. "Then I accept your request, Kakashi Hatake," she declared. "And for compensation, I want you to put an end to my unwanted visitors."

"Done," he readily agreed, shoulders slumping in relief. "I'll leave all decisions in your hands, Lady Fumiyo." They shook hands to seal their agreement and Kakashi left after saying his goodbyes.

Once he was gone, Fumiyo cleared the table until only her ink and brushes remained along with the largest of the blank scrolls. She unrolled it with a flick of her wrist and cracked her knuckles before scooping up her brush. Her violet gaze swept across the four faces standing in front of her before settling on Naruto and Hinata with a gleam of excitement in her eye.

"So, are you two ready to use everything I taught you?"

It took a month to make the seal.

The days had steadily grown darker and bleaker as the war dragged on and the two attacks on Konoha during that time hadn't helped. The number of casualties had increased, leaving behind only half of their overall numbers and even fewer able-bodied shinobi. And the worst part was that there seemed to be no end in sight.

Everything came to a head when the barrier protecting the village was finally destroyed. They came from all directions and every ninja still capable of fighting went out to face them. Half of their forces was destroyed in a matter of minutes until only the strongest among them remained.

But they knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice shouted above the chaos. "Go! Get the others and go!"

Naruto slammed back his opponent, sending her flying into one of her comrades. "Sasuke!" he yelled as he created a Shadow Clone also in Six Paths Sage Mode. "Find Sakura and meet me at the house." He and his clone both kicked away their newest attacker before darting away in opposite directions without waiting for the Uchiha's reply.

The jinchūriki immediately found his wife's chakra signature amongst the chaos. He followed it, dodging and deflecting the blows sent his way from the Ōtsutsukis that tried attacking him, until he finally spotted her. She was fighting side by side with Hanabi and Hiashi, her Byakugan activated and blood dripping from her temple.

He sped up and scooped her up in his arms, turning them in the direction of their home. "Naruto," she gasped as they flew through the air. Her arms tightened around his neck. "What's going on?"

"It's time to go," he tells her quietly as they sped through the destroyed village.

They finally reach what remains of their house and Naruto gently lands them in the backyard. His clone appeared beside them barely a second later with Fumiyo at his side before dispelling with a pop.

She quickly scanned the yard while Naruto placed Hinata back on her feet. "Where are Sasuke and Sakura?" she asked.

A loud explosion sounded somewhere across the village before either of them could answer. They turn to look toward the eastern gate and witness as Sasuke's fully formed Susanoo released a massive fireball jutsu from its mouth before manifesting a sword to slash at whatever was in its path. The avatar lifted into the air after finishing the blow. It flew in their direction and hovered over them for a second before disappearing. Sakura, her face and body covered in seals, slung Sasuke's arm around her shoulders as they rapidly plummeted to the ground.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Too fast. He gathered chakra in his hand and reached into the sky with a chakra arm and grabbed them.

"We need to go before it's too late," Sasuke said, still leaning heavily on Sakura. Blood dripped from the eye holding his Rinnegan and there was a new wound across his chest.

Sakura tightened her hold around Sasuke's waist. "It's steadily getting worse out there."

Another explosion rocked the ground beneath them and Naruto re-entered Kurama Mode. "Let's do this!" He quickly transferred his chakra to each of them so that they were all enveloped in a cloak of it.

The five of them gathered in a circle and Fumiyo met each of their gazes. "Remember, the jutsu isn't perfect. Be prepared for any side effects when we get to the other side. That and don't mess up your hand seals."

Sasuke wiped the blood under his eye away with the back of his hand. "And don't forget what we need to do once we get there."

Without saying anything more, Fumiyo led them in forming the hand seals for the fūinjutsu. Their fingers flew through each of the one hundred signs in the sequence required to form the seal until they finally made the last one. As they held their hands in the Tora position, they shouted "Seal!" The sealing formula extends out from their palms and snakes up their arms and spreads to wrap around the rest of their bodies.

It burns as it seeps deep into their skin and goes all the way down to their chakra pathways. A whimper of pain sounds beside him and Naruto's eyes snap open to instantly land on Hinata beside him. Her face is twisted in pain and he desperately wanted to reach out to comfort her but doesn't dare disrupt the jutsu.

"I know it hurts," Fumiyo ground out through her teeth. "But you have to endure. We all do."

As she says this, the burning pain reaches its peak and Naruto screams, but he forces himself to remain standing. His vision blurs and at the back of his mind he hears Kurama encouraging him to keep going.

But then the pain suddenly disappears and relief floods Naruto. His eyes drift back closed, and he wakes to find himself standing in his mindscape.

Kurama's curled up in front of him with his massive head resting on his paws. He lazily opens one bright red eye to peer at his jinchūriki. "Don't worry, Naruto," he reassures. "We'll see each other again."

Feeling like he's in a fog, Naruto slowly makes his way to the kitsune before leaping up to stand on his head. He curls up in the thick orange fur and the last thing he sees before falling unconscious is the thick string of sealing formula coiled on his palm with the Uzumaki swirl at its center.