Naruto groaned as his eyes slid open. His legs were hanging off of the too small bed he was lying on. He sat up and took in his small apartment from when he was twelve. Well, at least he knew that the jutsu worked. And he got to keep his body too. He grabbed the Shodaimes' necklace and inked a very small henge seal on it. As long as he had the necklace on and the seal activated he would be in his twelve year old body. He activated it, and placed his clothes in a storage seal, grabbing a pair of hand me down cargo pants Iruka had given him for when he outgrew the orange. He then grabbed a black long sleeved shirt, of which he slipped on a dull orange shinobi hoodie. He attached his weapon pouches and went through some basic exercises to make sure his coordination was in check.

He slid open the window and leapt out, tying his hitai-ate firmly around his forehead. He needed to remodel his wardrobe. He approached a shop that was vaguely familiar, and walked in.

He went to a back corner where the shinobi clothing was. He picked several sizes, knowing he would grow as he slowly released his henge. He mainly grabbed dark colors, but grabbed a few orange items here and there. He went over to the weapons and grabbed fresh sets of Kunai and Shuriken, and a new pouch, the ne he had was frayed and worn, and he did not wanna lose his weapons. He also grabbed some ninja wire, and the spray needed to make it invisible. He walked up to the register and realised why the shop was so familiar.

'Tenten.'

She rung up his stuff and he pulled out his frog wallet. He counted out the needed money and frowned as he noticed he was 20 ryo short. An elegant hand reached over him with the amount needed and he turned to thank the person only to freeze.

Uh oh. He was in for a huge chewing out.

"I will cover the amount you need Uzumaki-kun." she said softly.

He gulped and nodded, taking his stuff and walking out. He waited outside as she walked out. He shrunk back as she glared at him, white eyes piercing him.

"Ano, Hi Hinata?" he said, and flinched as she grabbed him and body flickered away.

They reappeared in Shikamarus room, where an adult Shikamaru was waiting impatiently. When he saw Naruto he growled, KI flaring.

"So Naruto, mind explaining why we are in the past?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "I wanted to change it. Most of our friends were gone and I had found this in the Uzumaki vaults. I wasn't expecting it to work. I was partially expecting to die."

Hinata stopped glaring. This could be a blessing or it could be a curse.

"What about our forms? We are nineteen, we should be twelve." Hinata said. Naruto grabbed Shikamaru's earring, and Hinata's engagement ring. He quickly applied the seal he himself had on his necklace onto the pieces of Jewelry.

The two slipped their respective items back on and activated the seals. Shikamaru shrugged out of his too big clothes. The others weren't fazed, they had seen each other in much worse conditions.

The lazy Nara dug through his closet and tossed Hinata a pair of his clothes, sans the Nara jacket he had worn when he was younger. She slipped them on, and made a small slit above her chest, so she wasn't suffocated by how tight the shirt was. Her Hime cut was back, and she opted to simply wrap bandages around her feet, seeing as hers were smaller than the Naras.

They leapt out the window, deciding to hurry to the academy so they could get their teams assigned. They smiled wistfully as they realised that no one was dead anymore.

They touched down in front of the academy and exchanged glances. They needed to be cautious. Hinata allowed a timid look to take over her features, and hunched in on herself. Shikamaru just yawned lazily, his shoulders slumped.

Naruto marvelled briefly at how quickly they sunk into their old personalities. He steeled himself and plastered on a foxy grin, eyes squinted, and let his body vibrate with energy. He turned to his two bestfriends.

"Come on guys! Let's go! Team assignments are waiting!" he said.

The two sighed before smiling. They walked in, Naruto having run ahead so that he could 'burst' in.

That went out the window as soon as he opened the door. His breath caught in his throat as he spotted Sasuke. He was still an avenger. Naruto knew he had to stop that soon. He quickly went to his seat and kept his head down. Hinata and Shikamaru entered, and shot him sympathetic looks. Iruka-sensei wasn't here yet so he decided to visit his mindscape.

He reappeared in a familiar sewer, and made his way towards the huge gates with the Kanji 'seal' written on a thin slip of paper.

"Kurama? You awake?" for a moment he worried if Kurama came back with him, then promptly dismissed it. Shikamaru and Hinata came back, so why not Kurama?

A deep rumble was heard, and Naruto saw a small fox, curled up in the center of the seal. It seemed Kurama would be sleeping for a while. Naruto walked through the bars of the seal, ignoring the yellow chakra that appeared for an instant, and curled his body around the Chibi-Kurama. He stayed like this for a while, reveling in the comfort of the purified golden chakra emanating from the biju.

Hinata and Shikamaru exchanged knowing looks as they watched their Hokage slip into a meditative state. They kept a careful eye on the blond, knowing his mental state was fragile, and that he would likely do something stupid, given the chance. They tensed as Iruka came into the room, eyes settling on the blond immediately. There was a flicker of something, in his brown eyes, and Shikamaru sucked in a quiet breath.

Suddenly golden chakra began to bubble along Narutos' still form. Whispers started up and Iruka ran over, shaking the blond. Shikamaru and Hinata stood and silently made their way to the gathering crowd of students, shifting to the front of the group.

Naruto groaned as he pulled away from Kurama. Someone was trying to wake him up, and it was probably sensei. He opened his eyes, and found himself staring into soft brown orbs full of worry. Worry? Why though? He looked to see Hinata and Shikamaru nodding slightly. Great. He had shown the biju cloak, or at least the begginings, and now the Hokage would be suspicious. He nodded slightly and looked to Iruka.

"Naruto are you okay?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, sensei why?"

"You wouldn't wake up, and there was chakra surrounding you. Are you sure you are fine?" the scarred nin said, worry lacing his tone.

"I'm fine Iruka-sensei. I need to talk to old man Hokage though."

"Naruto you idiot! Show respect towards the hokage! And why would he talk to you, you're just a deadlast loser."

Naruto flinched at the harsh words that were spat at him, and Hinata rounded on the owner of the high pitched voice, byakugan active.

"Do not insult Naruto Yamanaka! He has done nothing to deserve it!" she growled.

Ino looked as though she had been slapped. She took in the Hyuga, and noted the different clothes, that looked suspiciously like her lazy friends'. Speaking of her lazy friend, she looked over and saw him glaring lightly at her. This hurt, and she looked down, ashamed.

Naruto shook his head, trying to clear it of any thoughts. He stood and brushed past everyone, heading for the door.

"We already know our teams Iruka-sensei." he muttered, and disappeared.

Hinata sighed, and together, her and Shikamaru vanished, following their upset brother. Meanwhile, the blond himself was standing in his tiny apartment, henge released, and his shinobi gear was strapped firmly on. He looked over and saw his Nanadaime cloak, draped over his bed.

'Shikamaru.' The blond thought fondly. He grabbed the cloak and slipped it on, leaping out the window and dashing towards the Hokage tower.

He was joined by his friends a moment later. They had released their henge and were also in their old outfits. Shikamaru had the kanji for king on his back and Hinata, repentance. The trio made their way to the Hokage tower, flying through the window.

Naruto stood stick still, even as a kunai was at his throat. He felt his comrades stiffen, stopping themselves from helping him.

Hiruzen watched the three nin with hard eyes. They bore no village symbol, only wearing a hitai-ate with the kanji for 'shinobi' engraved upon the metal plating. He examined their posture, facial expressions, and eyes.

They in no way had hostile intent. He did however, wonder why one was an unmarked Hyūga, and the other looked like a scarless Shikaku. Then he saw him.

"Minato?" He asked shakily. The blond man shook his head.

"Nah. I'm not my father. Just like she isn't Hitomi, and he isn't Shikaku."

Hinata stepped forward, flanking Naruto's left while Shikamaru flanked his right.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, and no longer were they the kind, soft brown of a elderly grandfather, no, they were burning like the embers of a fire ready to burn. He was The Shinobi no Kami.

"Who are you?" He demanded authoritatively. The voice of a Kage rang through his aged voice. The force of it merely ghosted over the three, as Naruto was a Kage, and Shikamaru and Hinata were loyal to only him.

"Awww jiji! Don't ya recognize me!?" Naruto pouted. He activated his henge, as did Hinata and Shikamaru. "We've known each other forever ya'know!?"

Hiruzen very carefully picked up his jaw, before studying the three. They had once more reverted to their original form, and were staring at him with haunted eyes.

He bowed his head. He didn't want to believe this, but he could tell they were not lying. For good measure, he pulled out his crystal acting ball, and searched for the trio. He couldn't find them in a child form, and stared at the three in front of him.

"Explain." He ordered. Once more it passed over them, but they explained anyway.

" I am Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, rank Nanadaime Hokage. "

"Nara Shikamaru, Jonin, head of the Allied Strategic Forces and Hokage-sama's right hand man."

"Uchiha-Hyūga Hinata, Jonin, Head of the Allied Medical Unit Seventh Platoon, Nanadaime-sama's Left hand."

"We are here to save the future."