A/N: So yeah. I couldn't stand it anymore and I am now in the process of rewriting the entire thing. It's pretty annoying but I liked the thought of the story the way it was. But I remade the outline. Expect around 9-10 chapters with an epilogue. Each chapter will be around 3k-8k words.

I don't know true ages on a few characters. They are mere speculation. At this moment, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are 25. Kakashi is 39.

This is mindspeak. This is Kurama speak.

1.

It was a bright day, the fresh promise of spring finally lifting the spirits of all it touched. The birds had come out and the streets were much busier than normal. The markets were teeming with life and vitality that hadn't been seen in the Hidden Leaf village in many years.

The academy was producing the finest Genin in years and parents were finally smart enough to warn their children on the dangers of Shinobi life. So many of the would-be ninja's went into civilian careers instead and were producing promising doctors, scientists and businesspeople.

But for one Uzumaki Naruto, his day was smashing.

It was a rare day out of the same four bare walls and a break from seeing the same people every day. The office was very stifling, even for his bubbly personality. And he cursed the day and all five of his predecessors on his rank's most dreaded adversary: evil paperwork.

However, Naruto didn't consider himself an extremely smart man, but his idea could have been considered the mark of a genius. Since he was the world's foremost user of the kinjutsu Kage Bunshin, he knew the risks and the benefits of such a jutsu. On days where he absolutely had to GET OUT of the office, he utilized Kage Bunshin, normally only three to five at a time, and set them doing the majority of the blasted work. And every hour or so, the Bunshin would pop giving him all needed information about his village.

From the civvie council trying to get him to sign off on more money for their bank accounts, to missions from ranks D to SS and wars that normal people tried to hire his people for, he knew exactly what was going on in his village. People couldn't say he was cheating at his job.

You see, Uzumaki Naruto had finally reached his dream. And it had been a magical four years. Konoha flourished under his reign and all hidden villages were finally, finally at the promise of peace and tranquility that had been denied them so long. People often called his reign the second coming of Yondaime, but he didn't buy that at all. Yondaime had only ruled for two short years before Obito jerked his and his wife's lives short. No, at four years and counting, the Uzumaki-Namikaze, all knucklehead reign was the true reign of peace.

But at this moment, he wasn't think about anything like that. Oh no. The blond headed Rokudaime Hokage had something completely different on his mind other than his favorite job in the world. Well… he was thinking about his favorite job in the world and how it led him to where he was going at this very moment in time. Happily, he skipped his way through the Hokage Tower, ignoring cries of "Hokage-sama!" and finally grinned maniacally at the large metal door that signaled the Hokage Vault.

The Hokage Vault. The very vault where all of Konohagakure's most secret and amazing things were held until the right time.

Today was the day he would finally open it, dattebayo!

Briefly, Naruto reflected on that day when Granny Tsunade had given her hat to him and announced in front of the Shinobi council that she would be retiring. He'd been equally as stunned to say the least when the entire council bowed before him and in a unanimous decision voted him in as Rokudaime. While he knew that he was a candidate, he never expected to have beaten Kakashi or Shikamaru for the seat.

It was the fourth happiest day of his life.

The first and second days belonged to meeting his parents. The third day was when he finally convinced Sasuke to return to Konoha. And today would be the fifth. He finally had clearance, it sucked that even as Hokage he needed clearance, to get into the Hokage Vault. Yes, he'd sneaked in here before when he stole the Forbidden Scroll but that was neither here nor there.

Searching his pockets, he found the golden key that would help to open the vault. Cutting his hand on a kunai that was promptly slid back into his pouch, he pressed it to the seals surrounding the door and flared a bit of chakra. Sticking his key into the keyhole, he turned it and heard a giant click. Wiping his hand on his trousers, he turned the huge wheel, and the door made a whooshing noise. Giving it a jerk, it opened with a hiss.

Letting out a loud cackle, he took a step into the vault and looked around at all the scrolls and hidden items. And there were a great many items. Scrolls and boxes and bags everywhere. He hardly knew where to start looking.

He wasn't trying to get in here for shits and giggles. Three weeks earlier, Kurama had told him that something had been interrupting his sleep. For something to seep inside a seal, one that had been broken but a seal nonetheless, and disturb a chakra construct such as a bijuu meant that it was something that was worth looking into. And one night Kurama couldn't handle it anymore and had barked his partner awake. He then led the man to this point in the tower where they now stood and that somewhere, somehow, something had called him.

Naruto rather hoped it was a seal or something that was sealed. He'd taken up Fuuinjutsu after the fourth war ended because he'd been told it was in his blood. And he'd actually found it easy. It definitely helped him focus and the complexities of the art drew him in like a moth to a flame.

You sure you aren't just going crazy in your age? Naruto asked with a smirk

No, you idiot. It's here. It's making my tail fur stand on end. The fox sent a mental image and Naruto couldn't help but snicker.

The air was stale, obvious that it hadn't been opened in some time. He hummed slightly to himself as he started on looking at shelves, making notes on various incomplete jutsu that he wanted to take a look at.

"So, what will you look for Hokage-sama?"

Naruto jumped about five feet in the air and whipped around, so occupied with his search to find one of his Advisors looking at him with an amused expression. To his eyes, sneaky Uchiha Sasuke hadn't changed much. He'd grown a few inches and he'd finally filled out, growing some decent muscle and his hair was a bit longer than before, but he still had his pale, milky skin. He'd been blemished in the last ten years with Orochimaru, Obito and Madara having their claws sunk into him for a few years. Few light scars littered his skin and he still bore the trauma of getting his Eternal Sharingan when he used his doujutsu too often or too long. But, the scars didn't affect his overall looks. He was still the same pretty boy that had defeated Orochimaru and brought about the end of the Great Fourth Shinobi War with the heralding of the first four Hokage.

And yeah, he was still immensely powerful and still a colossal dick.

But Naruto would never forget the shock of seeing his resurrected father's face. He would never ever forget the sound of his own name from his father's lips. The thrill of fighting against an enemy with him. And he would never ever be able to repay Sasuke enough for the chance to actually hug his dad. To feel his father's touch on his shoulder on his actual skin and not his mindscape.

He glared when he saw his remaining two advisors popping up behind the pale man and each leaned on a hip behind him, wearing nearly the same expression. Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura hadn't changed much either in his humble opinion in the nine years after the end of the war.

Kakashi still read his porn even if Icha-Icha hadn't had a new volume since Jiraiya had died. He'd also aged a bit, but that hadn't slowed him down at all, despite the fact he was approaching 40. You only could tell his age was affecting him when he was off mission. Naruto still trusted his old sensei with A and S class missions.

Sakura had finally bloomed in to a beauty even Ino was jealous of. Her use of Tsunade-baba's Hyaku-Gou seal was doing wonders for her body. It kept her at maximum chakra control, which she was at anyway, and helped her body bloom. Her bust had grown, hey he was a man and he could appreciate a good set of tits, so she wasn't flat as a board and she'd stayed slim and muscled. Her tempter was still monstrous, as was her strength, and he still tried to not poke fun of her. He really didn't want be a stain!

She had revealed a while back that she was actually dating a civilian and had gotten over her crush over Sasuke. He'd learned that the young man had taken Sakura aside and explained how he wouldn't be continuing with his line. The Uchiha would end with him. Of course Sakura wanted children and had taken his words to heart even if it broke it in the beginning. But Naruto knew that Sakura was a strong woman. Both in her will of fire and in her body.

Clearing his throat, he turned around and promptly ignored them for the next few minutes of his exploration. They followed him of course, closer than the ANBU that were always around him. Obviously they wanted his answer. He really didn't know how to explain that it wasn't really him that was looking for anything. Kurama had the hinky feeling.

But he liked annoying the shit out of his team. Sakura huffed. Sasuke started tapping his fingers against his arms. Kakashi just took out his book. Hiding a grin, he admitted, "I don't know, dattebayo." He glanced at his advisors to see their expressions of exasperation, as he knew they'd have them.

"Tch. Naruto-baka."

He laughed. "I'm sorry, Sakura! I came here because I… I don't know!" The Hokage then gripped his blond locks, now long and nearly styled in the way of his father. "Kurama… he said that it would be a good idea to take a look in here. He had a feeling, several actually, that... we might find something of importance. He's the one that's been bugging me the last month to look in here." Naruto was quiet a moment. "He swore it on Inari-sama. He never does that unless it's important."

Kakashi hummed for a second before closing his book and sticking it in his pocket. "Then you should listen to him."

Naruto glared at his old sensei. "Yeahhh. I know. That's why I'm here and not at Ichiraku's eating a good lunch that somebody won't let me have very often."

"I am your personal physician and medic, Hokage-dono. Eating ramen all the time is bad for you." Sakura sniffed.

Naruto scoffed, unmoved by her concern and kept going, holding his hand a few inches off each prize. He could hear the faint murmuring of his partner going saying No over and over.

This went on for an hour and a half. The blond glanced at his Advisors. "You… don't have to follow me through here, ya know?"

Sasuke shrugged. "What else was I gonna do today, eh?"

"I don't know. Missions perhaps?" He glanced over at Sakura, "Don't you have a shift at the hospital today?"

"Yeah, but I switched with somebody when I realized how serious you were, Naruto-baka."

He was about to retort when Kurama's voice boomed out a There. Naruto froze his hand over a large old scroll. That's it. By Inari-sama.

"This is it," he murmured. He never thought they'd find it so soon.

"Really?" Sasuke looked vaguely interested, his dark eyes studying the scroll intently.

"That's an old scroll, Naruto. Tsunade-shisho said she'd remembered her grandfather and great uncle putting that into the vault."

"Maa, Naruto, let's take it out shall we?" Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and ushered him out of the vault behind his two other students. Taking a hold of the key in his Hokage's hand, the copy ninja whirled the door closed and locked it before placing the key back in Naruto's nerveless fingers. He gave a wave to the ANBU stationed nearby and they fell into place in front and behind the group. Discreetly of course, but they were there to protect the small group.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, what… what do you think it is to call a Bijuu such as Kurama to it?" The silver haired man could tell that he was excited and yet totally freaked out at what he was holding in his arms. Kakashi was silent a moment as he, Sasuke and Sakura steered their stunned Hokage up the stairs past bowing ninja and to his office where three Kage Bunshin were still going away at paperwork.

"We'll have to find out then, won't we, Naruto?" Kakashi waited until bright blue eyes, so like his sensei's, looked at his single eye. "Won't we, Naruto?"

With a curl of his lips, Naruto nodded and said, "Yeah, we will."

Setting aside the scroll, the blond cleared off a broad desk near his main desk and reverently picked the scroll back up to stretch it out. Bent over the desk, Kakashi couldn't help but notice the difference in his once cute student.

The Rokudaime had changed since his Genin days. He was tall now, taller than Kakashi had ever expected him to be at a startling six feet three inches after he'd had a very late growth spurt at eighteen. His father had only been at six feet himself and of course Kushina-nee was quite short herself. The young Hokage had also let his hair grow in honor of Jiraiya-sama and his father instead of the short mess he'd had when he was younger. He'd lost all his baby fat in his face and his body to the point he was built almost like a brawler but for the way he moved.

Everybody couldn't help but notice that the young man moved with a fluid sort of grace. He moved with purpose, each step strong and sure, despite his height and size.

But, as Kakashi was glad to notice, some things hadn't changed. His hair was still the bright blond as it had always been. His eyes, the clearest of blue. He was still tanned too, even if he'd been stuck in the office for the last four years. He still laughed and played pranks on his people, more so now than ever before now that he could get away with it easier. He looked so much like his father that most people couldn't help but stop and stare. And his appetite for ramen hadn't changed either or his general attitude for life in general.

Kakashi could remember in the few years after the war when he'd been granted a scroll from Tsunade that contained a very special jutsu.

The famed Hiraishin no Jutsu.

It had how it was created, how to work the chakra and to create the seals on the specialized kunai. The notebook also included all of Minato's and Niidaime's notes on the jutsu so that anybody that it was figured out to anybody that Minato deemed worthy. And it seemed it was meant for his blood alone. Kakashi remembered being in the room and Naruto's eyes had gotten big and wet and he'd gave the Godaime a big huge hug that nearly lifted her off her chair.

It had taken some time, even for Naruto to learn the tough jutsu, and for ten months he worked diligently when he wasn't running the village. Naruto was now completely proficient in Hiraishin, could travel further and more times than Minato could because of the sheer amount of his chakra. Using it so much around the village that first month gave him the nickname of Konoha no Orenji Renshou or Orange Streak of Konoha. He would have been called the 2nd Yellow Flash, but the knucklehead said that he didn't want to be cast in the shadow of his father.

It was enough to know he had learned two of his jutsu.

Once the man had stretched it out there was a pregnant silence. "Oh my God." Naruto's voice was quiet, reverent.

"What is it?" Sasuke walked over to where Naruto was staring at the scroll.

"It's a seal. Mother of God, this seal… look at the translations here and here…" he grew pensive, "this part here.. it's a lead to here.. and here. Command of Time. Holy shit!"

"Command of Time? What does it do?" Sakura asked, but she got no answer back. Naruto and Kurama were too busy looking the specs of the seal to really pay attention to the outside world.

Is this really from Inari-sama?

Don't be a fool, Naruto-baka. Yes, this is from Inari-sama. It's got her mark all over it. The giant fox paused, Do you see that swirl in the top quadrant's conflexions? No human seal master could make such a thing.

A seal by Inari-sama.

Yes. One that is quite rare. Since I've been trapped in humans, I've only seen one and it's this one. Two more in the last two millennia. Kurama tapped his claws on his chin in deep thought. Why would one such as she give it to this village. To the humans here?

"Oi, dobe! How does it mess with time? Naruto!" He could vaguely hear Sasuke's voice getting more and more irritable.

Naruto didn't know where to begin to explain.

Let me speak. I can explain better. Kurama's voice boomed. Naruto had long since kept the cage opened at all times. The Kyuubi was his friend and partner. And Kurama accepted Naruto as a part of him. He knew he wouldn't accept another host such as the knucklehead.

With a shrug, Naruto's eyes changed color from bright blue to red and his advisors knew that the demon fox was about to speak. "Calm down. Kurama has something to say. He can explain it much better than me."

"This is a time travel seal." Naruto's clawed hands passed reverently over the old parchment. "Inari-dono only gives this seal to certain creatures once every few millennium. The fact that you have one is amazing. You should feel privileged at the fact that this is here and Inari-dono is giving you the opportunity to make real differences in the past. We'd need to study it more to make sure that that we know the specifics of this particular time seal." Naruto's eyes switched back to blue.

"We could fix so many mistakes with this." Sakura's voice was soft as she glanced at Sasuke's unreadable expression. "So many bad things in the last twenty years alone."

"It's tempting. No doubt about that." Kakashi's mind was on his own terrible past. On his family and friends that he could save with this seal.

"Yeah, I know. But we need to understand this seal if we want to experience that changed future."

Sasuke snorted. "You actually said something smart for once."

"Hey! I can be very smart at times, teme!" Naruto lobbed the familiar insult back at the dark haired man and carefully rolled up the giant parchement and popped it into a sealing tube. Picking up a brush, he quickly put a blood security seal on the outside and then hid it back into a special vault that could only be opened with his special chakra. "Alright. Let me get some lunch and I will come back and take a closer look at the thing."