Well, Naruto knew he was a true shinobi, so he also knew that he was stealthy. Indeed, he was a very sneaky person. No one should, could, he was sure, say otherwise.

At least that was what Naruto told himself as he snuck into Sasuke's home while disguised as Itachi, who was out on a mission.

No, he did not lack confidence in his stealth per se. It was just... he knew Sasuke well enough to know that he was a very light sleeper, after all. It would have been bad if the other boy woke up for his midnight tomato snack only to come face-to-face with Naruto, of all people, lifting his shirt up. That was it.

Naturally, a normal Henge would not work on Sasuke. Honestly, that would not get past any trained shinobi in the first place, much less a dōjutsu user. That was why he was using the very same technique that his original Oiroke no Jutsu had been based on (though before he taught it to Konohamaru in a simplified version with an actual Henge, it had been the sole version). It was invented as a disguise and infiltration tool. Later on, it even developed into the handiest information-gathering one. He had been surprised by how many shinobi turned out to be closet perverts. Presumably, the element of surprise was the biggest factor. Kakashi-sensei, in all his infinite wisdom, had said so.

Still, it was a solid transformation that would not be revealed by any dōjutsu. Not even the Rinnegan -- yes, he had checked. It was only a backup plan, but the confusion would at least buy him time to escape. It ensured that he had the option of leaving the aftermath to the real Itachi.

Honestly, he was a little curious what Sasuke would do if he "learned" that his precious older brother thought of him that way. Perhaps that was a good idea for a future prank. 'Suke was always so uptight about his affection for Itachi before and had always gone on and on ranting about how much he hated him (in his previous life) and how much he respected him now. For all he knew, there might be rather entertaining repercussions.

As long as Sasuke never figured out it was him, at least.

Perhaps really should have convinced the actual legitimate Uchiha Itachi to do this for him. Sasuke would never refuse his aniki anything, even if it was something completely weird. Naruto doubted that Itachi had used his authority for anything strange, though. He was too kind of a person to do something that his brother would be embarrassed about if he looked back upon it in the future...

...and that got him to feel bad about what he was thinking to do.

Naruto sighed.

He silently opened the door of Sasuke's bedroom and walked to the side of Sasuke's bed that was closest to the door. Then, he pulled out the square sheet of parchment where a pre-drawn seal stood out starkly, the black ink contrasting against the white surface of the paper. He had only just lifted the edge of the shirt that his brother in all but blood donned when the raven-haired male stirred in his sleep.

"'Ruto?" Sasuke mumbled blearily as he opened his eyes, only to blink in surprise at what he was seeing.

He glanced down and saw the seal that Naruto immediately tried to hide behind his back.

"Isn't that the solution to immortality that you invented last time?" Sasuke asked quizzically, looking so unaffected by the (former) blond's current appearance that Naruto felt like digging himself a hole to hide in for the rest of his life.

"What are you talking about, my foolish little otōtō?" Naruto tried to bluff, imitating Itachi's voice and tone perfectly.

Sasuke sighed. "I know it's you, Hokage-sama. I do not believe that even my brother can enter my room without alerting me."

"What do you mean?" Naruto repeated, now cursing the fact that he had not seen fit to use sleeping gas to make sure that his friend did not awaken during the procedure.

"I have to admit that your disguise was excellent, though. Flawless, in fact," Sasuke continued, activating his Rinne Sharingan as he observed the transformation. "I was not aware that Hokage-sama had possessed such a perfect transformation technique."

Scowling, Naruto reluctantly admitted, "I just wanted to make you immortal."

"I can tell," the Uchiha replied wryly as he watched Naruto's transformation fade away to reveal the form that he usually associated with his friend.

"You're going to accept it?" Naruto asked, not bothering to conceal the hopefulness in his voice.

"Of course not," Sasuke snorted. "I have no wish to see everyone I care for die before me."

Naruto visibly deflated.

"Oh."

"But a fail-safe to ensure that I don't die before I want to will be well-warranted," Sasuke spoke quickly, noticing his friend's disappointment.

"There is no way that I will prepare such a shoddy and incomplete thing," Naruto did not hesitate to reply, shooting the idea down right away.

"So you want us three to be alive until the end of the world?" Sasuke shot back.

"Well..." he looked away guiltily.

The raven sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Look, I do not blame you for wanting to keep us safe and protected. Honestly, I am touched that you care so much about us. However, I do not want to be immortal. You do not want it for yourself either, do you? I doubt that Sakura would just take that idea sitting down either. I understand your fear of losing us. I also worry about your safety all the time, with you running off on all sorts of adventures every other day, after all. Despite that, it does not mean that I desire immortality. Even if you cannot come up with such a method, it is fine. I will accept my end if and when it comes. I will simply make the most of my life while it lasts. I will try to make a difference while I can. None of us wants the end of the world to befall us once more. That is why we chose to return to the past, remember? You have gotten completely sidetracked with your paranoia with regards to the safety of Sakura and myself," the dark-eyed one of the duo explained patiently yet not patronisingly, smiling sadly at the rather broken look in his friend's eyes.

"Yet I cannot help but fear that I might lose you two. You are all I have left," the blond breathed, tears streaking down his face as he reached out to brush his fingers over Sasuke's cheek.

"We came back," Sasuke insisted, his voice firm as he caught Naruto's wrist and forced the other male to meet his gaze. "This is our second chance. We can fix this."

Naruto looked down sadly, avoiding Sasuke's probing eyes.

"I know, but it is just so... painful to see them all again when I can still remember seeing all their cold corpses littering the ground," Naruto said this in a whisper, regret tinging his voice.

Regret for not being strong enough, for having been such a fool as to not keep those dear to him closer. He blamed himself. How could he not? They had fought for him, who was the last jinchūriki. They had run towards their deaths at his command. It was all his fault.

"No one blamed you, Naruto. You did what was best for all of us, Leader of the Shinobi Alliance Namikaze Naruto-sama," Sasuke responded in an almost-joking manner. "They are all alive, are they not? We can try again. We will save all of them this time. I will not foolishly abandon my friends and family this time. You will not be forced to play the fool until the end, this time. We are here now and that changes everything."

Naruto smiled a little at that.

"Egotist," he joked.

"We're indeed stronger than ever before, you know," Sasuke defended himself with a pout.

Naruto chuckled, wiping his tears away.

"Alright. I will have more faith in you. Just don't get caught by Zetsu again."

Sasuke scowled. "We won't."

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Naruto sighed for the ten-thousandth time.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on," she grumbled, "it's not the end of the world!"

"But I was rejected," he muttered.

Sasuke snorted. "Nothing has changed. We are still alive and well, aren't we?"

"You never know what will happen tomorrow!" Naruto shouted in exasperation, throwing his arms up.

"Oh no, you don't. You will not guilt-trip us into accepting your immortality formula. Besides, is it even tested?" Sakura put her hands on her hips as she stared at the blond pointedly.

"Of course it is!" Naruto exclaimed, genuinely offended. "What do you take me for? Do I look like the sort of person who would risk the lives of his friends for the sake of his own interests to you? I made sure that there wasn't anything wrong with the seal before bringing up the idea of using it in the first place!"

Sasuke sighed. "Enough of that nonsense."

"Yep, it's about time you quit it. We have things to discuss," Sakura chimed in.

Naruto pouted, looking a little sullen.

"I was under the impression that you two would follow the orders of your commander and Hokage," he mumbled under his breath.

"Work hard," Sakura giggled. "That's still a long way away right now."

"That's right. After all, how old are you now? Other than us, just who would willingly let you lead them? In their eyes, we are mere children," Sasuke added smugly.

Naruto glared at his friends good-naturedly.

"I'll have you know that even Jiji takes my advice. The famed Professor, the Sandai Hokage himself has to admit to my superiority," he bragged with mock-arrogance.

Sakura rolled her eyes and whacked him upside the head.

"Don't say ridiculous things," she scolded.

"But it did happen!" Naruto insisted as he rubbed his head with a scowl.

"Since when did Sandaime-sama ever admit to being inferior to you in any aspect?" Sasuke then proceeded to interject.

"You lot are just too much. It was only a slight exaggeration!" Naruto protested.

"Let's end this pointless argument," Sakura sighed. "We were supposed to discuss our plans and come up with ideas to deal with the unexpected happenings since our return."

A brief silence hung in the air as Naruto and Sasuke seemed to come to a nonverbal ceasefire agreement

"Hmm... The two of you can continue with that on your own. I have something that I have to do right now. Bye!" Naruto spoke up after a while.

Just like that, he vanished without waiting for the responses of his two teammates.

Sasuke and Sakura could only stare at the spot that their friend had just vacated without any warning in shock. They felt more than a little mind-boggled by what had just happened. Did Naruto not intend to get together to talk about their plans from the beginning? They felt quite cheated. It was true that Naruto had not been the one to initiate this meet-up, with it being a rather impromptu one if anything, but Naruto should not have been irresponsible enough to leave just like that... right? Sometimes the two felt like they could not understand their blond friend at all. Naruto was just too unpredictable.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

In the meantime, the said person had a beige sack slung over one shoulder and had dressed in red and white. Honestly, he resembled the man known as Santa Claus or Father Christmas. In reality, his appearance had not been disguised at all using any transformation technique, which made it quite obvious that it was not within his intentions to hide his identity. He even went as far as to wear a pair of boots and a belt, both of which were black with silver buckles, as well as a red cap with a white fluffy pompon.

If one of his classmates happened to witness this, they would surely think that he was out to pull a prank on someone. On the other hand, if it were Sasuke or Sakura who saw him in this getup at this time, he would be throttled. For that sole reason, he was being quite covert in his actions. It was surprising just how stealthy he could be in such a flashy outfit. Naturally, it was not nearly as eye-catching as his bright orange jumpsuit. However, he made no sound as he moved despite his bulky clothing and heavy boots. At the moment, he was running along the rooftops without a single civilian or shinobi glancing his way.

This was a feat in and of itself.

Soon, he stopped on top of one particular roof on the edge of the shinobi district and crept off the roof and down onto a balcony. At this point, it became clear that this building was also a flower shop. It was fairly surprising to see such a shop in the shinobi district. With an ease that would have anyone wondering if he was an experienced burglar, Naruto picked the lock and slinked into the room. At this point, it would become known to anyone who looked that this was a residence situated right above the flower shop below. In truth, he now stood within a fairly girly room. It was purple and filled with the scent of flowers. There was a four-poster bed with hangings that were cream in colour with violet trimming and ribbons as well as a flower-patterned rug. On a study table in one corner was a vase filled with fresh flowers and a flower-shaped lamp. There were even a few photo frames that displayed secretly-taken pictures of Sasuke.

Naruto snickered at one where Sasuke was carefully scowling at his blood clone while it pointed at him and said something ridiculous. His face had been blotted out and a heart was drawn around Sasuke's. There was also a picture where Sakura had been trying very hard not to cringe as she fawned over Sasuke. There, Sakura's face had been doodled on and then crossed out. Ino had stuck her own face there over the original.

Naruto placed a hair clip on the table, one with the properties of clearing the mind and making it easier for one to concentrate. He had decided on this with the Yamanaka clan traits in mind. It was a piece that he had designed just for Ino. A simple series of extraction processes had been used to obtain a suitable infusion of floral and herbal scents which he placed in a particular seal which he designed to act as a mild scent diffuser. It was made such that the smell would only linger around the wearer of the hair clip. It would not leave behind a distinct trail for any tracker-nin to follow, which made the calming scent suitable for the use of a kunoichi. It was a form of aromatherapy and would also function as a perfume, which the current Ino would no doubt adore. The flower hair clip suited her. It resembled a white carnation. It was a flower which symbolises innocence. He also remembered that it was suitable for using to wish a woman good luck according to the complex language of flowers that he had taken pains to learn to incorporate into his gifts for Ino.

Despite its appearance, this white carnation had an unexpected yet pleasant smell. It was the distinct aroma of zinnia, the flower which conveyed that one was thinking of their absent friends. It was a well-concealed hint to how much Naruto missed how things had been between the thirteen of them. He sometimes wanted to go to speak with Shikamaru about a board game, only to remember that this was a much younger Shikamaru who did not share the same memories of shared times from a lifetime ago. He often turned to Ino or Kiba, intending to tell them some amusing thing or another, before remembering that they just were not the same people that had been his friends. They were younger and more innocent, but most importantly, he was not acquainted with them. If he were to cease being the class pariah, Team 7 would no longer be a possibility. Naturally, the Sandaime Hokage would notice that something was up since he already knew that Naruto's true capabilities lied far beyond what he usually displayed. Even so, he saw no reason to reject Iruka's proposed placements. There was nothing wrong with having a proper frontal assault specialist team.

This was only the latest of many gifts. One such present had been a pair of earrings that had the function of helping her to concentrate better. It was fairly simple, a pair of black ear studs that had lilac floral engravings on them. Ino had adored that present and wore them every day since the day she first found it lying on her study table. It had been the first of the gifts that Naruto had left for her with the hope that she would learn to escape the Sasuke-obsession phase of her own accord ahead of time and instead focus on her duties as a kunoichi.

It was only after Naruto had completed his task and left through the balcony window that Ino finally entered to see the latest gift from her secret Santa. She smiled at the clip on the table as she caught a pleasant whiff of the scent on it. Ino did not hesitate to pick it up and put it on. She sighed a little wistfully as she thought about just who the thoughtful person who had sent her all these presents was.

At this time, Naruto had already arrived in the Inuzuka compound. He left a vial containing a tonic on Kiba's study table (which was obviously in a state of disuse). He had also scribbled on the side of the container: For Akamaru. There was also a pair of fingerless gloves with a flexible plating which was reinforced using fūinjutsu to be as strong as steel with the shock absorption of rubber. Chakra steel blades would also appear when chakra was sent into a seal on the glove. It was a fantastic gauntlet-type weapon that he had designed with Kiba's fighting style in mind. Naruto had once made a hoodie for Kiba, one that had the function of improving his senses. Naruto had grinned when he saw the Inuzuka wear it to the academy the next day and every day after that.

His next stop was the Hyūga compound.

His first destination was Neji's bedroom. Naruto did not have any trouble making his way past the guards despite their possession and use of the famed Byakugan. He silently slipped past the clan members and was already in the branch member district before one could say "Santa Claus". He made his way through the district with practised ease and was soon swiftly scaling up a wall during which he stopped halfway and pressed a mechanism. It was a fūinjutsu array that he had set up sometime before to deliver Neji's gifts. The older boy (physically at least) was always in his room at the strangest times and it was rather difficult to catch the exact time where he would be asleep considering how he seemed to have no routine or schedule whatsoever. It was a fact Naruto knew would leave anyone who knew of Neji bewildered. After all, he always seemed like the epitome of responsible and straight-laced.

Neji's gift was a talisman with such a specific function that it would have been completely useless to anyone else. However, it was an item that Neji would most definitely appreciate. It was likely that Neji would even consider Naruto to be his lifesaver should he ever discover that he had been the one to give it to him. The talisman was placed in a silk pouch together with a seal that was also made into a talisman. It created a tattoo that would be permanent for as long as the person that applied it did not tear the talisman. In other words, it was easily removable but difficult to distinguish from the original thanks to the chakra within it that will give the illusion that the original seal was still perfectly functional. There was even a slip of paper within which detailed the functions of the two talismans and instructions on how to use them. Naruto had been extremely thorough in his preparations and was clear and precise in his instructions.

He had gifted Neji with "freedom".

It never sat right with Naruto that Neji would be shackled by the chains of what he called fate. It was like Neji himself was but a bird trapped in a cage. No bird could be happy when confined by humans within a cage, unable to do as much as stretching its wings. Likewise, Neji could not escape those shackles on his own. It was for this reason that he had always been so bitter. It was solely by his judgement and due to a decision that he had made by himself that he had died, but that freedom only lasted for a brief moment before his soul departed the world.

It was something Naruto always wished to do but could never gather the courage to. In this new life, in his second attempt, he did not wish to leave things undone as he had before. That end was something that he would never allow to happen again. He did not want to make any more mistakes. He had to fix everything. It was a heavy burden, but one he was glad to have.

After all, Naruto had not quite found himself yet. He was still the same lost and lonely boy that he had been as a child. Even if it had been years and he now had people by his side, that would never change the fact that he was alone. They thought they could share the burden with him, but the truth was that Naruto just did not know how to rely on them. It was true that they were his friends, but he had never learned how to ask for help from others. He had been alone for the first half of his life, perhaps more than that too. He had taken a long time to truly start to acknowledge Sakura and Sasuke as his friends and truly start considering them dear. The only exception had been Gaara. It had not taken all that long for Naruto to start to trust his fellow jinchūriki. Not at all. Gaara was someone who knew the solitude of one who was feared and hated from birth just like himself. The two of them understood each other the best and had communicated quite frequently despite them living in different nations altogether. It was easy for Naruto to place his faith in Gaara because he understood Gaara almost as well as he understood himself. Even then, he had never needed to rely on Gaara.

This responsibility that Naruto shouldered was the best motivation. At least now he had a clear direction. He was no longer lost. He had a goal to work towards. He was no longer blindly stumbling through every day with only the bleakest expectations of where life would bring him. Now, he had hope. He could see within the future a place where he could finally belong. That was why he was so determined to see this through. He was working towards a brighter future.

Sneaking into the main branch district was even easier since it was in the middle of the clan compound and the guards only stayed at the gates since they all had complete faith in their fūinjutsu arrays. They had the full lineup of intruder detection arrays, warning arrays, barrier arrays and even a five-element killing array, so they never feared any spy or infiltrator. However, in front of Naruto, it was like they did not even exist. It was not that the work was shoddily done. In actuality, it was almost the best one would be able to find in any clan compound. It was Uzumaki fūinjutsu and the seal masters of Uzushiogakure had always been superior to their fellows of any other background. The problem was that they had not received any maintenance in the past years since the fall of Uzu. That, alongside the fact that Naruto was vastly superior to the combined might of the Uzumaki seal masters that made the arrays, made it such that he could easily make his way through the array without even touching it by stepping within safe zones of the array where the seals had already frayed.

Just like that, he stepped into the traditional Japanese room that was Hinata's bedroom. It had a side room, Naruto had found on one of his previous visits, that Hinata used as a study, which left her bedroom quite sparse but neat. It was a simplistic design that made an incredible contrast with Ino's purple and flowery themes. He shook his head helplessly as his gaze landed on a framed photo on the wall which, at the moment, showed a picture of a timid Hinata hesitantly putting on an adorable smile in front of the camera. However, his dōjutsu did not lie. Right underneath that was a rather clear photo of himself. It was probably his clone instead of his main self, but it bothered him slightly that he had never noticed when Hinata had taken this picture. In it, he was smiling brightly as he spoke to someone and his face was actually in clear view within the picture. He had always known Hinata stalked him even since the last time around but realising that she had quite the terrifying skill in doing so left him a little scared.

Ignoring the palpitations of his heart (he was still a human so it was justifiable that he would feel uncomfortable now and then about certain things, or so he would often tell himself), he approached her bed and set down a pair of shoes on her cupboard at the foot of her bed. He had made them based on what he remembered of her unique take on the Jūken. They were designed to take advantage of her speed and flexibility to add an attribute of wood to her attacks. Of course, that did not mean that flowers would bloom with every move she made. As a Hyūga, her attacks were aimed at tenketsu points and the intention is to cause as much disruption to her opponent's chakra circulation path as possible. This wood attribute was only focused on the yang aspect and would grant an endless quality to the chakra that she used to attack another. The damage that is done would be more stubborn and lasting, requiring much longer to recover due to the capacity of the yang energy within the wood release which caused it to be able to regenerate to an extent. This would expand Hinata's range of possible actions in the war to come (the shoes were made to grow with the wearer, which was a function only Naruto can add with seals).

Thereafter, he swiftly escaped from the Hyūga compound without anyone being any the wiser and took off towards the Akimichi compound. He had remembered the secret forbidden pills of the Akimichi clan as well as the drawbacks of their techniques. As such, he had so kindly fixed the numerous aberrations and omissions that had been made after sending a kage bunshin to copy all of their secret clan techniques. It had taken quite some time, but he felt that it was worth it. He was increasing the fighting power of the lineup that was to face the future threats of Obito, Madara, Zetsu and whoever may come after. He left a storage scroll filled with books and scrolls that he had filled with the amended versions of every single one of the clan's techniques on Chōji's desk and left right after.

With that all said and done, he swiftly headed for the neighbouring Nara compound. The few guards at the gate were all too busy sleeping or playing shōgi to notice Naruto openly stroll in through the main entrance. He then headed to Shikamaru's home (it was easy to spot since the clan head's residence was taller than the other houses around it). He grinned at the sight of said lazy Nara lounging on the front lawn while staring at the clouds. Typical Naras. It was only after the start of the war that the lazy Shikamaru finally started to carry his weight and more, leading the Alliance forwards with his brilliant strategies and impressive insight. As the eventual leader of the said alliance, Naruto had relied on him quite a lot and could be said to know Shikamaru very well.

On a whim, he retrieved the gift he prepared for Shikamaru from a storage seal embedded in his clothing. It had the appearance of an earring, but it was a one-of-a-kind artefact that had the overpowered function of supporting the gathering of shadows. It was able to improve any Nara's ability to manipulate shadows through a significant raise in range, flexibility and manoeuvrability. It was something that would cause a significant rise in Shikamaru's entire comprehensive combat ability.

He then proceeded to make a running start before stepping off the roof and making solid footholds of air using chakra to continue to propel himself forward. As he swooped over Shikamaru's head, he accurately dropped the earring onto his classmate's chest. A tag that had been attached to the earring stated: "If it's you, I'm sure that you'll figure out what this does in no time at all."

"Ja ne!" Naruto exclaimed with a cackle as he used his altered version of Hiraishin to make a quick escape.

It was only at this moment when the sleeping Shikamaru opened his eyes blearily mumbling, "Wasn't that Naruto? It sounded just a little bit like him...."

Then he noticed the earring on his chest and immediately realised who it was from and what it was for. Shikamaru's heart sped up in his chest as he stared at the earring in disbelief. It was practically attracting the nearby shadows into itself. It would have been stranger had he not realised what it was, just like the note had stated.

He eventually calmed down and sighed.

He flopped back down onto the grass but did not forget to put on the new accessory.

"Now it seems like I need to go search for a new earring to match... Naruto, could you possibly be my mysterious 'Secret Santa'?" Shikamaru mused, sounding and looking tired.

"That troublesome blond," the Nara muttered with yet another sigh.

"But..." Shikamaru spoke to himself after a moment.

A smile crept onto his face.

"...that's what makes things so interesting, no?"