The shadows

ch1

The night of the nine-tailed fox attack.

Minato and Kushina had just got impaled by a claw trying to protect their newborn son. Their son, who wasn't even an hour old yet, was going to be burdened by a life of a Jinchuuriki. Not only that, but he was also going to be an orphan by the looks of things.

Minato was ready to do the hand seals for the death reaper seal when a blinding light appeared. The next thing he knew, he was falling, no longer held by the claw in his chest. His last thoughts were, 'I didn't do the Jutsu. Where did the fox go, and what happened.'

When Naruto regained consciousness, he was looking at the ceiling of Hokage's office. 'hey Kurama, are you there?' he asked his friend and lifetime companion.

'What do you want, brat?' said the fox. Naruto smiled as he knew their plan worked. They time traveled. However, he was confused about what happened and why he ended up in an infant body where his father was sealing a fox in him. The plan was to go back to when he was 12 years old and hopefully before graduation to have enough time to fix everything.

He was thinking about the seal and the things that might have caused his predicament. The seal was a collaboration. They came up with the idea when they knew they had lost and were only racing against time during the war.

At first, it was just a wish, but as the idea was mentioned repeatedly, Naruto, Tobirama, and Minato decided to pursue the idea seriously. They messed with the concept of Hiraishin and how to use the space-time Jutsu to go back in time.

When they were stuck, Orochimaru helped by using Edo-Tensei to bring Mito and Kushina for extra help. The collaboration of five seal masters and the support of Obito and Orochimaru finally came to fruition.

The idea had a few key factors. Firstly, the Hiraishin was the part responsible for reversing the time. When Orochimaru pointed out that simply sending someone back in time will erase their memories, the solution came from the Kamui.

By using Kamui, they could create a temporal dimension to preserve the soul, and as for the part to fuse the soul into the younger body, Orochimaru found the solution. When the idea was complete, everyone started to work on their parts and things they needed to focus on, while Naruto went back to the front lines with others to buy the seal masters enough time.

The number of Shinobis was falling rapidly. Less than a hundred Shinobi remained when they were finally done with the seal. The only ones surviving from rookie 9 were Naruto and Shikamaru. Everyone else was dead.

The only ones that they knew from the past and were still alive were Gaara and Killer B. Everyone else died protecting each other during those ten years. The only reason those two were alive was because of their respective Bijuu.

The seal was finally ready. The plan was to send Naruto to the past. While Naruto was against it at first and wanted someone else to be chosen, he finally gave in after long debates. He was the one with the most chakra and the only one to make the trip safely.

Before leaving, Gaara and Killer Bee each gave him a fist bump and sealed a bit of their Bijuu in him by doing so. While Naruto had a bit of all Bijuu in him from when they first started fighting, these memories were newer from the only remaining Bijuus.

When he was done with his goodbyes, he went to the last person who was Orochimaru. He helped everyone from the beginning of the war to repent for his actions, yet there was a deep sadness in his heart and regret for the things he could have done.

During the war, he and Naruto became close by sharing memories of Jiraiya and talking about life and their views. As time passed, they grew a sense of comradeship and understanding and enjoyed each other's company.