Second Chances

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I do not own and probably never will own the copyright on Naruto. I wish I did. However, it will never happen. Therefore, I request that this is not removed and I do not get sued. Thank You.

A/N: This is the second Naruto story that I have 'penned' and for those of you following me as an author, you may have already read Underneath the Underneath. In that story I promised another where Sasuke was redeemable and here it is. There will be many manga spoilers. However, the number of spoilers is probably reliant on how often you read the manga. You have been warned! I don't know who Sasuke will be paired with yet so don't ask.

"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking

'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals

"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling

"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking

'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking

hello jutsu

*********************Decisions***************

After nearly 13 long years of work it was almost done. Leaning back in his chair the tired Hokage turned his attention to the picture on his desk. While he had dreamed of this moment for so long he had doubts about its completion. When he finished his work it would be a seal more complex and far superior to even the Hiraishin. Just then the door to his office burst open and several shinobi came in all at once.

"Hokage-sama!" was the collected chorus.

"One at a time and please stop that synchronized speaking. It is very disconcerting."

"Team seven has returned!" the first shinobi announced.

"Your point is exactly? I expected them to return from their C-ranked mission today."

"They failed the mission and both the Uchiha and Hitomi are in critical condition. The doctors….." the shinobi never finished as the Hokage disappeared in a flash of yellow. Reappearing at the side of two young shinobi he turned his attention to the others in the hospital room.

"Minato, Kushina what happened?"

"We were ambushed and then the client turned and attacked as well. It was a set-up! They were Iwagakure nins. All of them were at least Jonin or higher and they brought back up! It looked like they were all heading into battle with an enemy army!" Kushina growled.

"Of course they were! Sensei was there! They needed an army to take him down! Don't you see, Kushina? In order to get sensei like this they needed all of those nins and they did not even live to report their failure!" Minato shouted angrily.

"Minato! Don't yell at your sister. She is just as upset as you are. Now what happened to Hitomi?"

"Sorry dad." They both chorused looking down.

"For what?"

"Well when they initially attacked we moved away but Hitomi froze and we didn't notice….I know you told us to protect her! I'm sorry we didn't." Minato whispered. Kushina then broke into tears.

"Are you mad?"

"No. Not at you." He sighed. Just then the jonin's eyes slowly opened.

"Where am I?"

"Konoha. It seems like Kushina and Minato managed to drag you and Hitomi home by themselves."

"Sorry dobe…..I tried to protect them, but against that kind of force and over three-quarters of my chakra sealed I couldn't get to them fast enough."

"Teme. I told them when you came back that the sealing of your chakra would only be a liability. Of course they wouldn't listen to me. If you could have used your Sharingans, Susanoo could have protected the genins while you fought more effectively. Of course no one listens to me." Sasuke chuckled. Naruto always knew how to make someone realize the lame arguments that they made while insulting someone entirely unrelated to the conversation.

"Is it done?" That got the attention of both the depressed children.

"Almost another week at most. Although, now that it is almost done I am not sure if I want to use it. What if I never have Hitomi, Minato or Kushina?"

"You sound desperate dobe. That's not like you. You'll have them again. You just need to move faster and not be so dense this time."

"But teme…" before he could finish the shinobi he had left behind burst through his door with exasperated expressions.

"Hokage-sama why do you always take off like that?"

"Cause I can." The room suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

"Iwagakure has a force moving in this direction. It's not small either, not like last time. I think they are serious this time." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Naruto could feel the headache coming.

"Kumogakure is heading this way as well. They have no intention of letting up. Hokage-sama, the Raikage is leading the charge personally."

"Hokage-sama." A doctor said from the doorway. Turning Naruto took one look at his face and knew what he was about to say. It was the same look they had when his triplets were born. "Hitomi isn't going to make it through the night. I'm sorry. If only Tsunade were here." It was then that the two younger shinobi broke into tears.

"Do it dobe. There is enough time before they get here. Finish it. Stop this endless cycle."

"What of Sunagakure? Have they considered my proposal?"

"The Kazekage sends his deepest sympathy but says that he can't and won't get involved."

"What of Kirigakure?"

"Well….to quote the Mizukage "tell him to shove his request for aid up his ass" end quote." Sighing he looked away. Ever since Danzo's crimes were publicly aired he had lost all treaties and allies. None of the countries had been willing to sign again and thus Konoha stood alone in the war. Luckily for Konoha, while they would not help him, they refused to help them as well.

"I don't know what to do." Naruto sounded defeated. Looking away Sasuke flinched at the defeated tone that Naruto had. Fourteen years ago when the fourth war was ending, Kumo and Iwa had betrayed the alliance and launched an all-out assault on Konohagakure. It was at that point that Konoha's dirty laundry came out into the open. It was also the point when Konoha was left alone. Itachi had tried so hard to prevent wars and now that was all there was. Tsunade had been killed trying to prevent the enemy forces from entering one of their medical camps. While that delayed the inevitable it had not deterred the enemy. It was then that Naruto managed to push them back using the Kyuubi's chakra.

He had been made Rokudaime after it was discovered that all the other candidates were no longer among the living. He and Hinata had gotten married and nine months later they were already starting their family. It was a happy occasion. Then it became a nightmare for Naruto. Hinata had begun to hemorrhage during the delivery. Despite the best efforts of the doctors, she died just after Hitomi the youngest of the triplets had been born. Despite his loss, Naruto had tried his hardest at raising the family that Hinata had died giving him. Many women threw themselves at him trying to gain his favor. Naturally marrying the Hokage had many perks. However, Naruto could see through them all and none of them had their way. Of course this made many of the women angry but the most affected was Sakura.

After trying unsuccessfully to marry Sasuke, she had tried to marry Naruto especially after his lineage had been released to the public. Apparently something as simple as his parent's identity made Naruto a god. Sakura had taken the rejection hard and actually attempted to assassinate Hitomi and her siblings while they were only a year old. She had been stopped, arrested and tried for treason. When the sentencing came everyone, especially Sakura, had expected Naruto to be lenient since she had been a friend. They were proven wrong as Naruto ordered her to be publicly executed for her crimes. The idea that Naruto would have little to no patience for those who attacked his family made a very loud statement and many of the girls backed away.

"Dobe, if you do not do that jutsu I will never forgive you. We spent years on that technique! We combined every ounce of knowledge we could find into that thing! Everything I learned from Itachi, Orochimaru, and Obito! You poured everything from your endless imagination, the scrolls left behind by Jiraiya, Tsunade's personal scrolls, your father's scrolls and inventions of your own! I have never known you to give up so why are you?" Sasuke scolded. Naruto's head fell further and Sasuke cursed. Struggling to sit up he attempted vainly to get out of bed.

"Teme! What so you think you are doing?" Naruto yelled.

"If you won't do it then I will! Get out of the way." He growled. Shaking his head Minato pushed his wounded sensei back to the bed and turned to look at his father.

"Let's ask Hitomi what she wants. OK?" he tried to reason. After a few minutes he nodded and headed into the dying girl's room. Kneeling down next to the bed Naruto gave a soft smile to the shy girl.

"How are you doing Sweetheart?"

"I'm sorry…." She whimpered. Shaking his head Naruto brushed the tears away.

"I froze when my first C-ranked mission went wrong to you know? The only difference is that no one was trying to wipe Konoha off of the map then. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I am almost done with the jutsu I have been working on, remember?"

"Of course. You said that you would go save mom and that we would be able to meet her when you were done."

"I am worried that I might not be able to see you again if I do it. What if Hinata and I don't like each other and I never get to see you again?" Naruto had never been one to confess his fears to his children but he needed her support.

"Do it anyway. What if you save Konoha, stop the war, save mom and get us all at the same time?" she suggested. "You will never know until you try. You told me that when I was trying to learn the Juken."

"Ok sweetie. Get some sleep. I will see you when you wake up ok?" Naruto tried to keep his voice from cracking. He knew that she would not be waking up in this time. As she nodded and closed her eyes he suppressed a sorrow filled cry as she took her last breath. Standing he knew what he was going to do and knew that he couldn't do it alone.

"Teme, if I take you with me will you help me change things?" he said in the doorway startling the injured jonin.

"Anything, Hokage-sama." He confirmed. They knew at that moment that there was no turning back and as predicted it did not take long before the jutsu was finished. By the end of the week Sasuke was just able to stand and they had set the formula that was needed in the center of the village. It was no secret what they were about to do. Having needed to further their knowledge they had approached every shinobi for assistance and thus the village was preparing a defensive barrier around them in case the attack started before they were finished.

"Are they safe, Konohamaru?"

"Yeah. Gaara agreed to take them in even if he wouldn't help us. It is kind of sad though that they can't see that you have no desire to repeat past mistakes and intend to make amends for Danzo's actions."

"It isn't just Danzo, Konohamaru. When they discovered that Tobi, was in fact Obito Uchiha they felt an even bigger hatred for the village. Konoha had produced so many nins that had led the world to the war that they lost all faith in not the village, but the nins of the village. I hope that I can prevent that from happening. It's time." Naruto said standing as he and Sasuke nodded.

As the villagers cleared from the center of the sealing formula Sasuke and Naruto began a long complex string of over 500 hand seals apiece. The jutsu was very unique and required synchronicity. Teaching Sasuke the hand seals alone in a week while finishing the technique had been nearly impossible. Thankfully he had proven that he was a genius and had managed to remember them all without the use of his sharingans. Just as the last twenty seals were being performed the gates exploded and the village was flooded with enemy shinobi. Forcing himself to ignore his surroundings Naruto continued the jutsu. It was hard for him because every nerve in his body was demanding that he stop and protect his village. Sasuke on the other hand was also fighting against himself but for different reasons. He was exhausted. He had refused to sleep the past week so that he could learn the technique. Having Naruto ask him for help had been something that he had never expected. After everything that he had done to the blonde enigma, he had thought that teaching and protecting his family was the best that he could do. Then after he had failed to protect the youngest of the three he had thought that Naruto had lost his trust in the Uchiha. He hadn't wanted to disappoint Naruto again and fought tooth and nail to learn the technique in time. Just as the Raikage stepped through the village gates he and the Tsuchikage froze at seeing the formula elaborately painted on the ground and the two most feared shinobi inside finishing the last of the hand seals.

"What do you think that you are doing?" the Raikage demanded not expecting an answer. Turning as the last seal finished Naruto grinned.

"See you later, A. Oh don't think about researching the seal it will be destroyed in thirty seconds. Demonic release: Tenmei, unmei no gyakuten."As the words came from Naruto's mouth everyone in the village, enemy and ally alike, jaw's dropped as they stared in fascination. The seal had begun to glow and almost simultaneously the seals on Sasuke's sharingans and chakra, as well as Naruto's Shikifuin and eight tetragrams seal shattered. As the chakra exploded outwards their bodies began to disintegrate and a mass of energy began to rise in the air. Then, a bright flash of light emitted from the sealing formula and the seal, the light and the two shinobi were gone. The shinobi of Konoha could only hope that they would be saved from their foolishness.

************************T.B.C***********************

AN: I promised a story where Sasuke was a good guy and here it is. For those of you who have read Underneath the Underneath, I'm sure that you will find this somewhat different and as the story progresses find some similar names. I hope that you like. There will be manga spoilers in the story so I advise that no one complains. As for the jutsu that I made:

Demon release: Tenmei, unmei no gyakuten (heaven's decree, reversal of fate): a combination of fiunjutsu, ninjustu and various kinjutsu. By consuming a mass amount of chakra the user is sent to another place in time. However, the chakra requirements are so high (on purpose) that only Naruto (who has the Kyuubi) and Sasuke (who can't consciously use ¾ of his chakra and thus it is stored and building) can use it. Anyone attempting to use the technique must have full understanding of the sealing formula and must have memorized the proper order of all 500 hand seals. If more than one person is using the technique they must be perfectly in sync with each other and they both must do the whole string of seals. How far back in time the user is sent is undetermined however, is theoretically influenced by the amount of chakra. This is a FAN MADE technique of mine and I don't want to hear complaints.