The first thing Naruto Uzumaki felt was warmth.
Golden rays of sunlight spilled through the thin curtains of a cramped apartment, bathing the room in the familiar glow of an ordinary morning.
Outside, birds chirped cheerfully while the distant chatter of villagers drifted in through the open window.
It was peaceful—far too peaceful.
Naruto’s eyes flew open.
He bolted upright, his breathing ragged as countless memories crashed into his mind all at once.
The Valley of the End.
The Fourth Great Ninja War.
Madara.
Kaguya.
Becoming Hokage.
Marrying Hinata.
Boruto’s mischievous grin.
Himawari’s bright smile.
Countless missions.
Countless victories.
Countless graves.
And one sacrifice above them all.
“…Kurama.”
The name escaped his lips in a whisper filled with grief.
Without hesitation, Naruto closed his eyes, instinctively reaching toward the familiar presence that had accompanied him for nearly his entire life.
Fear gripped his heart.
He remembered Baryon Mode.
He remembered Kurama fading away with a smile, telling him not to mourn.
Silence answered him.
Naruto lowered his head.
“So… it wasn’t a dream…”
Before despair could consume him, a deep, familiar voice echoed through his mind.
“Took you long enough to check, brat.”
Naruto froze.
His heart stopped.
“…Kurama?”
A low chuckle reverberated through his consciousness.
“Who else would it be?”
Without another thought, Naruto’s consciousness sank into his inner world.
The familiar sewer stretched endlessly before him, shallow water rippling beneath his sandals.
At the end of the corridor stood the massive crimson gate, held shut by the seal he knew better than anyone.
Behind it sat the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Kurama.
Nine enormous tails swayed lazily behind the colossal fox as crimson eyes met brilliant blue.
Neither spoke.
Naruto simply stared.
Kurama did the same.
Years of battles, arguments, trust, friendship, and sacrifice passed between them without a single word.
Then Naruto laughed.
It began as a quiet chuckle before becoming uncontrollable laughter mixed with tears.
“You’re alive…”
Kurama snorted, though there was unmistakable warmth behind the gesture.
“I could say the same.”
Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
“I watched you disappear.”
“And I remember dying.”
The laughter vanished.
“So… you remember everything too?”
Kurama nodded once.
“Everything. The war. Becoming allies. Becoming Hokage. Your family.” His voice grew quieter.
“And the end.”
Naruto lowered his gaze.
“So this really happened…”
“It did.”
“Any idea why we’re here?”
Kurama slowly shook his enormous head.
“None. One moment I ceased to exist… the next, I woke up inside my younger self. Or perhaps, inside yours.”
Naruto looked down at his own hands.
A second chance.
The words echoed inside his mind.
“I couldn’t save everyone…”
“No.”
“I made mistakes…”
“You did.”
“I lost people…”
Kurama remained silent.
Naruto clenched his fists.
“But maybe…”
His blue eyes slowly opened.
“…I don’t have to lose them again.”
A grin spread across Kurama’s muzzle.
“Now you’re thinking like a Hokage.”
Naruto opened his eyes.
The apartment returned around him.
He immediately jumped out of bed and hurried toward the cracked mirror hanging beside the bathroom door.
Looking back at him wasn’t the Seventh Hokage.
It was a twelve-year-old boy.
Messy blond hair.
Bright blue eyes.
Whisker marks untouched by age.
He touched his own cheek before letting out a slow breath.
“So… we’re really back.”
His gaze drifted across the apartment.
The instant ramen cups.
The tiny refrigerator.
The worn-out couch.
The faded wallpaper.
Everything belonged to the lonely apartment he had lived in before becoming a genin.
His eyes suddenly landed on the calendar hanging beside the window.
Today’s date.
Naruto’s pupils shrank.
“The Bell Test…”
Training Ground Three.
Team Seven.
Kakashi Hatake.
Sasuke Uchiha.
Sakura Haruno.
Today was the day everything had truly begun.
“So,” Kurama rumbled inside him, “what’s the plan?”
Naruto smiled faintly.
“I don’t know yet.”
“A lie.”
Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“…Maybe a little.”
“You’ve already started making a list.”
“I have.”
Kurama laughed.
“Good.”
Naruto washed his face with cold water before putting on the familiar orange jacket hanging beside the bed.
His old forehead protector rested neatly on the desk.
Picking it up felt strangely emotional.
He tied it around his forehead with practiced ease.
This headband no longer represented the dream of becoming Hokage.
It represented every promise he had ever made.
Stepping outside, Naruto inhaled deeply.
The streets of Konohagakure bustled with life.
Shopkeepers prepared for another ordinary day while Academy students hurried toward class.
Mothers scolded their children.
Elderly couples laughed together over morning tea.
Every face was alive.
Naruto slowed his pace.
There stood the old vegetable vendor who would later be killed during Pain’s assault.
The elderly couple who had once hidden refugees during the Nine-Tails attack.
Several chunin chatting outside a restaurant who would eventually fight in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
People who had no idea what the future held.
Naruto smiled softly.
“You won’t have to suffer this time.”
As he approached Training Ground Three, three familiar figures entered his view.
Sakura Haruno stood with her arms folded, emerald eyes filled with impatience as she muttered complaints about Naruto inevitably being late.
Several meters away, Sasuke Uchiha leaned silently against a wooden post, his expression as cold as ever.
To everyone else, he looked like an aloof prodigy.
To Naruto, he looked like a lonely brother standing at the edge of darkness.
Perched atop one of the training posts was a silver-haired jonin casually flipping through a small orange book.
His single visible eye curved lazily above his black mask as though nothing in the world could surprise him.
Kakashi Hatake.
Naruto stopped walking.
For just a moment, emotion threatened to overwhelm him.
His first teacher.
His first team.
His first true family.
Kurama’s deep voice broke the silence.
“This is where we change fate.”
Naruto nodded.
“No.”
A determined smile spread across his face as he stepped onto the training field.
“This is where we save it.”