Misplaced Time, Misplaced Body

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Obviously!

Author's Note: Okay so this was an idea I had a long time ago and just gave up on it after writing the first chapter. I suppose I lost faith in the manga...and just stopped. It didn't seem as awesome as before. But now I find myself wanting to continue. Madara as a child was simply awesome and I really feel all pumped up about this. So I've rewritten this prologue to be compliant with current events! IMPORTANT: Those of you who have read this prologue before please reread it, its totally different!

Prologue: Through Cursed Eyes

Naruto snapped his eyes open just in time to stare at a sword protruding from his chest. Something heavy slipped from his nerveless fingers as he gasped for breath, feeling life slip away inch by painful inch once again.

What in the world, Kurama? He snarled at the stupid fuzzball. You said you would send me back in time! Whats the use in doing it if I end up dead? Idiot fuzzball , you better heal me right now!

There was no response, only a blank emptiness. Aw hell, thought Naruto. Of course the stupid fox wouldn't reply. If his insane jutsu had actually worked then the fox he knew would no longer exist in this time. But then again, if the jutsu had worked, he wouldn't be here with a sword through his chest!

Naruto attempted to move, coughing up blood as he stared around him. He was surrounded by the remains of what had once been a mountain, but now was only a pile of dismantled rocks, groaning under the weight of the pouring rain. A familiar sight really, after the Shinju had been recreated. There were too many insane mountain destroying monsters around for it be a surprise. But this should not have happened here. If he was back in time then what destroyed those mountains?

An uneven human shaped figure twitched on the soaking ground ahead of him, and he stared.

"A wood clone!" Naruto gasped out, and then stilled. That voice...did not belong to him. In fact it sounded very like...but no he had definitely traveled back. He was certain of it. And so that voice simply could not be!

The sword in his chest twisted, abruptly pulling him back to the present. His opponent was behind him and his body was too weak to move.

"When did you...behind me?" He gasped out raggedly and nearly panicked again, because that voice...there was no denying it this time. That had to be Madara's voice! But why would he be speaking in his voice?

"No matter the obstacle in my way, I will do anything and everything to protect our...no... my village." A quiet but hard voice spoke up from behind him. His opponent was lecturing him while stabbing him through the chest, the bastard! Wait, the bastard said our village...why was he treating him like some nuke-nin? Nothing made sense anymore!

"I still hold steadfast to the notion that having the best interests of the village as a whole...benefits all who settle within it." His opponent continued to spew his monologue, making him twitch. That voice...but it had never been this hard and cold, not when directed at him.

"If anyone tries to disturb that harmony...whether it be my own offspring...family...or someone I consider a brother...I won't hesitate to strike them down." His voice was still cold, but there was something of sorrow in it now. And there was no denying it. This person had to be...

"Hashi...rama," he gasped out. "This is...not like you...at all!" Ojisan. What are you doing?

"Not like me you say. Your madness forced me to this Madara! The necessity to make painful sacrifices for the good of the village...I understand it now."

Okay what? Hashirama-ojisan thought he was Madara! This was completely crazy! Crazy enough to be... a genjutsu. Of course that had to be it. Madara must have succeeded in completing his insane plan after all and was putting him through this torture, turning Hashirama-ojisan against him. No ordinary genjutsu could hold on him when he was wounded like just knew the bastard was behind it! But what was ojisan saying? He couldn't really believe that. Sacrificing your friends, giving up on one who is akin to a brother, is never the answer! Madara's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan must be very potent to delude the Shodai like that.

"That kind of attitude...will only lead to darkness." Naruto had to show Hashirama-ojisan how wrong it was. He had to snap out of it! "Sacrifice like that...will further fuel...the cycle of hatred."

Naruto could feel himself weakening. Too much blood loss. He couldn't hold on like this any longer, not without Kurama, not without senjutsu chakra, so far beyond his reach. But he could not give up and leave the Shodai like this. He would make the Shodai see reason again if it was the last thing he ever did!

Naruto forced his mouth to move as his body sagged to the ground, crashing against the soggy earth. The jolt of pain nearly sent him spiraling into unconsciousness. He could feel his mind shutting down, struggling to preserve his sanity as the world turned red. Still he persevered.

"Hashi...rama...you...mu...must..."

Then the world turned dark as his consciousness faded.

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Naruto did not know how long he lay there in a pool of his own blood. By the time he was conscious once again, the rain receded into a mild drizzle and Hashirama-ojisan was nowhere in sight. He gritted his teeth against his injuries and focused, drawing upon nature chakra. It was strangely hard to do so, like his own body and chakra were resisting the addition. He frowned, then slowed down the process, carefully integrating the chakra into his own. Slowly, steadily, Naruto could feel his reserves filling up. A period of stillness followed, and his pain faded to a dull ache that he could safely ignore. He was too used to it. He sighed in relief. His Uzumaki healing must have seen fit to kick in at last and combined with senjutsu, he would be able to move in moments.

He struggled to sit up, sage mode dissipating, heavy armor pushing him down. Wait just a minute. Since when did he wear heavy armor? Naruto looked down at himself and stared. Red armor.

Black clothes.

He twitched violently, uncomprehending, pushing at the thick mane of hair obscuring his right eye. Black hair. It couldn't be!

Naruto moved, pushing chakra into his weakened body, ignoring its protests. He had to make sure. He had to see! He jumped across broken rocks, over muddy puddles, the remnants of a mountain. And he kept moving, forward and away as fast as he could. Water! He needed had to be a river around here somewhere.

His hands flickered through a series of seals as he ran, and his chakra moved.

A flood of water appeared, pouring out of his mouth in a concentrated burst and pooling at his feel. Naruto jumped, reflexively balancing on it, a burning warmth pooling into his eyes. Suddenly the world was sharper, clearer than ever before. Clearer than it had ever been even with Kurama's chakra. He could see every drop of water as it crashed into the whole, could anticipate the movement of each rock being flung away, could see the bright glow of chakra pulsing in the air. He stared at his reflection, dread pooling in his gut.

A burning pair of Mangekyo Sharingan stared back at him in the cold face of Uchiha Madara.

"Gahh!" Naruto screamed backing away. The Uchiha backed away as well, looking startled and horrified. Naruto stared. He never expected that expression on that face. It had always been cold arrogance or insane laughter with that man. The Uchiha looked back at him, eyes wide. He was...surprised. Naruto frowned down at him and focused on his body then sweat dropped. Sure enough, he looked exactly like Madara, up to the ridiculously long hair getting into his face. He was staring at his own reflection!

"Kurama," he muttered listless, "What have you done? This is...clearly not a genjutsu. No one, not even that man can create a gengutsu that spontaneously allows you to use water jutsu and see chakra! Not to mention...everything being this sharp. No one can give a person the Mangekyo Sharingan just like that!"

Naruto hardly expected an answer really. The fox he knew was gone and the time travel had succeeded. Somehow he just suddenly knew it in his gut that he had traveled back. He knew it like he had known hatred, the black thing the Zetsu clones gave out. He could simply tell; this world felt young. There was a sense of omnipresent age that was missing and it was something Naruto hadn't noticed until it was gone. Kurama had succeeded and he was in the past. In the past, close to the Valley of the End and in a completely wrong body. In Uchiha Madara's body.

I suppose you found it funny Kurama. Put the brat in the enemy's shoes and see what he does. This must be your idea of revenge for all the times I drove you insane.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, thoughtful. He really shouldn't be this calm. He was acting like this was almost expected, like this body was his right and familiar to him. That activating the Mangekyo was simply an expected reaction in response to being startled and flinging around unknown water jutsu was obvious.

Did you intend this to happen Kurama? Was this your great plan that you wouldn't tell me of? He supposed it didn't matter anymore. What was done was done. Moaning about his situation would help no one, least of all himself.

Still, if this was true, if he really was in that bastard's body...it made things so much more difficult and much easier as well. His mind snapped into gear, analyzing everything, summarizing the current situation in dry tones reminiscent of Sasuke. Kurama had succeeded in evading Madara's chakra chains and sent him into the past. The Fourth Shinobi world war no longer happened. All those people who had died, throwing themselves in front of him were not dead. In fact, none of the shinobi wars had occurred. Neji, Jiraya-sensei, his mom and dad...all those people were no longer gone! In fact, that incident with Hashirama, in that location...He was in the as yet unnamed Valley of the End in the time of Madara's supposed death at the hands of Hashirama. Most importantly, he was Uchiha Madara, the one who chained the biju and walked the path of madness. And if he were here, no longer walking that path, then... he could change everything.

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