Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters as they are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 1: Desperate One-Way Trip

Everything was over.

The village was destroyed.

His friends were dead.

And Hinata, the only girl to have ever loved him was murdered right before of him after just confessing her love to him.

After that, Naruto had lost control and had let himself fall prey to the Kyuubi's influence. That's why he was currently in the sewer of his mindscape, on all-fours, pondering on how everything had turned out the way it did, why did it turn the way it did? why did he have to lose everything?

''What's the matter, Naruto?'' Thundered the cold voice of the fox as the gigantic beast stared at Naruto through the bars of his huge cage. ''You know what you have to do. Free me and I promise I'll make that man pay. I'll make him regret messing with us'' Said the fox, his red eyes showing eagerness as he glowered at the broken boy in front of him.

Naruto stood up slowly before he started approaching the seal on the cage. The stupid fox was right, as much as Naruto hated to admit it. This was the only choice left for him to do. He had lost. Pain had taken everything away from him and Naruto could only wonder what his body, which was currently on a Kyuubi-induced rampage, was doing right now outside of his mindscape.

At least the fox had a chance against the leader of the Akatsuki. Naruto knew that he would die if he took off the seal, but why did it matter? Everyone he cared about was dead, and he would be too anyway if he didn't free the Kyuubi. This way at least he could take down Pain with him.

''That's it, Naruto. Just take off that damn seal and let me do the rest'' Said the Kyuubi expectantly as he saw Naruto stop just before the big piece of paper that had the door of his cage sealed.

Naruto stared at the paper tag with the word 'Seal' on it, and he slowly lifted his hand and grabbed a corner of the tag. He started to tear it down when he felt someone's grip on his wrist, keeping him from continuing.

Naruto glanced to his side in confusion to see a man holding him by the wrist. Naruto recognized the newcomer, he had seen the man's face countless times on the Hokage monument. The man had spiky blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and was wearing a white coat over a Jounin uniform.

''Y-Yondaime?'' Muttered Naruto in shock. How was this possible? How could someone else be inside his mind?

''Hello Naruto'' Said the fourth Hokage with a warm smile.

''Yondaime!'' Growled the Kyuubi in rage at the man. He had been taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of the former Hokage, but now that he snapped out of his shock he had been invaded with unyielding rage at the sight of the one who imprisoned him in this worthless boy. ''I'm going to tear you to pieces!''

Both blonds ignored the Kyuubi's fit of rage as they stared silently at each other.

Naruto was especially speechless. what could he say? Why was the Yondaime even there? So, he just settled in asking a simple question. ''How do you know my name?''

The Yondaime grinned at the boy. ''I think I would be a terrible father if I didn't know my son's name now, would I?''

It took a moment for Naruto to process that sentence, but when he did, he widened his eyes in astonishment. ''You-Your son? You are my dad?''

''That's right. I stored some of my Chakra within the seal so I would appear before you if you were about to release the fox. I would have preferred to meet you in different circumstances but on the plus side, I get to see my boy all grown up'' Said the fourth Hokage with pride.

''Don't you dare ignore me!'' Yelled the fox as he threw himself against the bars to no avail. ''I'll never forgive you for putting me in here. Damn you!''

''So noisy'' Said the Yondaime. He knew that the Kyuubi would not let them have a moment of peace to talk, so with a snap of his fingers, he made their surroundings disappear.

Naruto glanced around him as he noticed that they weren't before the Kyuubi's cage any longer. Instead, they were surrounded by a white void as far as the eye could see. But even if he had never seen this part of his subconscious before, Naruto was way more interested in his dad.

The former Hokage watched as his son approached him slowly. Minato opened his arms, ready to embrace the boy, only for Naruto to punch him in the gut. The Hokage bent over with a cough as the air left his lungs.

''How could you?!'' Yelled Naruto at his father. ''Why did you seal the Kyuubi in me while you went off to die and leave me alone?!''

The Yondaime looked apologetically at his son. ''Naruto, listen-''

''No! You listen!'' Naruto interrupted. ''Do you know how hard my life has been because of you?! You ARE a terrible father!''

The Yondaime stared sadly at his son as the boy sniffed back his tears. ''You are right. Your life hasn't been easy and that's all on me. But I had no choice in the matter. At the time it was either seal the fox in you or let it destroy Konoha, and I knew you could handle it. I have always believed in you''

Naruto's sobs were receding somewhat, the Yondaime's words soothed him even if just a little bit.

''Just like right now'' Continued the Yondaime. ''I know that things look bleak at the moment, but I know that you'll find a way to pull through. I know that you'll manage to defeat Pain and avenge everyone''

Naruto snapped his head back up again to stare harshly at his father, once again feeling upset. ''So I defeat him, then what?! Everyone is dead!''

The former Hokage was taken aback by Naruto's outburst. He couldn't think of anything to say to Naruto about that.

''He destroyed Konoha, probably killed everyone too. What will I do after I defeat him?! I can't take on the rest of the Akatsuki by myself! I can't become Hokage if there is no Konoha! Everyone I've ever cared about is gone! What do I have to live for now?! What would defeating him even accomplish now?!'' Shouted Naruto, gasping for air after his tirade.

The Yondaime glanced at the white void below them, at a loss for words. It was heart-wrenching to see his son so defeated, but the worst part was that he was mostly right. Yes, Konoha could be rebuilt, and Naruto could always find other precious people- As cold as it might sound- but it was true that right now his son would be terribly vulnerable to his enemies. With no Konoha or comrades to support him he would be hard-pressed to protect himself against the rest of the Akatsuki. He would live the rest of his days laying low and evading S-ranked criminals unless he found another village willing to take him in, but it was much more likely that an enemy village would just take the Kyuubi for themselves and get rid of Naruto and be done with it.

An idea occurred to the Yondaime. It wasn't ideal and would come with its own set of problems but it might be the only thing that Naruto could do.

''There is a way to solve all of this'' Said Minato, getting a surprised stare from his son.

''What do you mean by that?'' Asked Naruto, finding it hard to believe that there was anything that could be done now.

''Before I died, I was experimenting with my time-space manipulation seals, and I managed to create one that could send someone back in time. In theory at least'' Explained the Yondaime.

''So there is a way to undo all of this?!'' Exclaimed Naruto. ''What are we waiting for, then?! Let's do it''

''Easy there, Naruto. First, I want you to know the risks of doing so'' Warned Minato before Naruto got too over eager.

''Risks?'' Inquired Naruto. What risks could there be? If this was going to bring his friends and his home back it was a no-brainer.

Minato nodded. ''Why did you think I never attempted to use it? Not even when the Kyuubi attacked?''

Naruto frowned thoughtfully at that. That was a good point. If it was such an awesome Jutsu why didn't his dad use it to save his life the night of the Kyuubi attack?

''Messing with time is no small thing. Just a small change and the entire timeline is affected. You could even end up in a parallel universe even without doing anything at all'' Explained Minato. He could have gone back to the past to prevent the masked man from attacking Kushina and releasing the fox, but time was a fickle thing. Even if he went back there was no guarantee that it would fix anything, and in fact it could make things even worse.

Naruto thought about what his dad said for a moment, but in the end, he decided that the risk was worth it. ''Yeah, it could change things, I get it. But compared to how things are right now, anything would be better''

Minato frowned sadly at his son's words. While what Naruto said wasn't wrong it was still disheartening to see his son so defeated.

''So, are you sure you want to do this?'' Asked Minato seriously.

Naruto pondered on this one last time for a moment before he gave a solemn nod.

Minato sighed, preparing himself mentally for what was next. ''All right. Let's get to it. ButI'm going to need your help''

''My help?'' Repeated Naruto.

''That's right'' Said the Yondaime. ''I don't have the Chakra necessary to perform the technique myself, I'm just a Chakra remnant after all. I'm going to need to use your Chakra for this''

''Can we do that?'' Asked Naruto. ''I don't know how that works''

''Don't worry. We are inside your mind'' Minato reassured him. ''It won't be difficult for me to access your Chakra here. But...''

''But what?'' Said Naruto with concern. His dad's silence couldn't be a good thing.

''Since you will be spending the Chakra for the Jutsu, it will also be up to you to direct the technique'' Said Minato.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. ''How do I do that?''

''You'll have to think of a specific moment in time in your past. Focus well, picture that moment in your mind as clear as you can. Then, the Jutsu will send you back at that moment'' Explained Minato.

''That sounds easy enough'' Said Naruto confidently.

''Don't take this lightly, son'' Said Minato sternly, taking Naruto off-guard. ''What did I just said a moment ago? Tinkering with time is not a game. A single mistake can cost you; Lose your focus for just a moment and who knows in which part of your timeline you will land, if you land in the same timeline that is''

Naruto gulped. This might be more dangerous than he originally thought. ''What do I do then?''

''Don't think too far back in the past'' Said Minato. ''Not only will your memories be fuzzier the farther in the past you think, but the farthest you get sent back in time the more risk there is of deviating from the timeline''

''I understand'' Said Naruto, now a bit more subdued.

''Okay, let's begin'' Said Minato, glad that Naruto seemingly understood how delicate this was. ''First, put your hands on my shoulders''

Naruto awkwardly grabbed his dad by his shoulders as he faced him. This was such a surreal experience. He had just met the ghost of his dad who was the fourth Hokage and was about to send him back in time. ''Now what?'' Said Naruto expectantly.

''For now just try to focus on the specific point in time you want to go back to'' Said Minato as he did some hand seals.

Naruto tried to think back at an appropriate time to go back. He could go back to just before Pain attacked and warn everyone that he was coming. But what if they couldn't stop him anyway? Pain already destroyed the whole village by himself, what guarantee was that he couldn't just do it again? No, he had to go back even further, but how far back was the question. ''Say, dad. Do you have any suggestions of a good time to be sent back?'' Asked Naruto. His dad was supposed to be smart, right? He had to have a good moment in mind.

Minato wasn't expecting his son to ask for his opinion. He furrowed his brow in concentration as he thought on the subject. ''I think that your best bet is to go back to the last time you saw Jiraiya-Sensei. Is not that far back to be too dangerous and you can inform him of Pain. With his help I'm sure that you can beat Pain''

Naruto smiled at that. That was ingenious! Not only this would fix everything and they would be ready for Pain, but he would save the Ero-Sennin's life! At that thought, Naruto widened his eyes in astonishment as another idea entered his mind. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity; he would never get the chance again to go back and fix things, it was best that he used this chance to its full potential. Why only limiting himself to saving the Ero-Sennin? There were so much more people he could help, not just his old master. He could go back just a bit more and save Asuma-Sensei, or go back even more and save Granny Chiyo and Gaara. And why stop there? He could keep Sasuke from leaving the village; He could prevent the Oto-Suna invasion and save the old man Sandaime. Yeah, he had to use this chance to set everything right, not just spare Konoha. But first, he had to think of a good point to go back to; too far back and he would be too young to do anything about it, so preventing the Kyuubi attack was out of the question and he hoped Sasuke would forgive him someday but he most likely would not be able to stop the Uchiha massacre. After carefully thinking about his options for a couple of minutes, Naruto finally decided that a good point to go back to was his graduation day. It just seemed that a lot of crazy stuff started happening just after he became a ninja, so it was a fitting place to start.

With his mind made up, Naruto looked at his dad with resolution in his eyes. ''I'm ready''

Minato smiled proudly at his son, glad to see his determination. This might be far from the best possible meeting with his son, but he was still glad that he got the chance to talk to Naruto at least once. With that in mind, he finished the hand seals and put his palm on Naruto's belly. ''Remember, think only of the time and place you want to go back to. Try to be as emotionless as you can. Any stray thought you have could screw up your intentions'' Said Minato, to which he got a nod from Naruto. ''Say hi to Jiraiya-Sensei for me''

''Of course'' Said Naruto, hiding the fact that he wasn't going to be seeing Jiraiya any time soon probably. The only thing he was not looking forward to was the loneliness that he was going back to. Back when he graduated very few people cared about him and he couldn't say that he wanted to relieve that. He knew that he could make friends with everyone again but he still wished that he didn't have to be so alone.

''Then, I wish you luck. I believe in you, Naruto'' Said Minato one last time before he channeled Chakra to his hand on Naruto's stomach and a bright yellow light enveloped the boy.

Naruto couldn't help but give a small yell at the weird sensation. In a flash, his body was thrown into a void as he felt as if he was falling into a bottomless abyss while his mind got clouded.

He didn't have much more time to wonder what was going on before the stress that the technique put on his body was too much and everything went dark.

Author's note:

Hey there, guys! I have been toying with the plot of this story in mind for quite a while and I think that I finally managed to structure the story half decently, in my mind at least.

Don't worry, I'm still writing 'Love your Enemy' but I'm having trouble with some little bits of the next chapter and I had to put this story into words already, so you could say that I was more inspired to write this one at the moment but rest assured that I'm still working on my other story, I won't ever abandon it without me telling you guys.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new story and feel free to review or PM me!