Dream

Naruto grumbled in a half-conscious protest against the sun filtering through his eyelids. He rolled over and made to pull the covers over his head, but couldn't find them. Frowning slightly, he moved his hand around to try to find his blanket, but he still couldn't feel it. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and blinked in confusion.

Naruto sat up hesitantly and looked around. He was in the forest, at the base of a very large tree. The light looked like early morning, and the air was slightly chilly. He was wearing the same thing he went to bed in: a pair of orange shorts and a black shirt with a spiral on it.

"What the hell?"

Pause. Naruto shook his head and slapped the sides of his face, but nothing changed. It didn't feel like a dream. Was it genjutsu?

He stood up and looked around uneasily. They were taught to search for anything strange, to tip of the presence of an illusion. Naruto squinted toward the edge of the trees, where the sun shone brighter, and thought he could see a few wooden buildings in the distance.

"If this is an illusion, I'm probably supposed to go there, and then it's a trap," he murmured, scratching his head.

Oh, well. Facing it directly was way better than sitting around waiting. He turned and ran up the side of the tree he'd been laying under... and only made it up a couple of meters before his feet detached. It was so unexpected that Naruto fell backwards with an undignified cry and landed hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Ow!" A few leaves fluttered down and landed on his hair and face. He stood up and shook them off. "What was that?"

Naruto held up his hand in a half-ram seal and concentrated on his chakra. To his surprise, it was almost completely depleted. He could feel a small trickle that was steadily replenishing his reserves, but it felt... odd. Slippery to control.

And the fox's energy, too. He could sense it that was good at least but barely. If his own lack of chakra was worrying, that was downright alarming.

"Man, this is bad." Naruto opened his eyes. He wished that he'd gotten Sakura to teach him how to dispel genjutsu, so he'd at least be able to tell whether all this was real or not. But (as far as he knew) even the most skilled users couldn't keep a genjutsu going forever, so that question would soon resolve itself one way or another.

Deciding to act rather than trying to guess at the details, Naruto started toward the distant buildings. If he wanted to figure out where he was, or find the person casting this illusion on him, that was surely the place to go. Trap or not.

It was a small village Naruto didn't recognize. Just a collection of farm houses here and there, with fields stretching all around. A few people were in the fields already, tending to the crops. Naruto could see a few chickens pecking on the side of the road near a dusty building. He squared his shoulders and walked onto the road, keeping an eye out all around him. At least this place still looked like the Land of Fire. Maybe there was a small glimmer of hope?

As he approached, a boy about his age that was hoeing near the edge of the road stopped in his work to stare at him.

This was it. Naruto took a deep breath and put on a friendly look. "Uh, hey! I was wondering if—"

"DAD! KITO! There's a weird guy here!" the boy yelled toward what looked like a work shed nearby, cupping his hands around his mouth for volume.

"No, wait!" Naruto said, waving his hands. "I'm not anyone suspicious, I just—"

"What're you yelling about, Shinji?" a middle aged-looking man and a younger man came out of the shed. They were wearing thick gloves and belts with wood-working tools in them.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle anyone!" Naruto said. "I'm just lost, and I was hoping you could give me some directions."

"He came out of the woods!" Shinji said, holding the tool like he wanted to run Naruto through with it. "He might be a bandit!"

"What the hell makes you think that?" Naruto reached the end of his temper. "Do you have dirt clods for eyes?"

"Funny kid," the young man, Kito, laughed.

The older man sighed. "Calm down, Shinji. Please forgive my son," he added to Naruto. "The shinobi that was posted here on watch had to be called back to Konoha recently, so we're all a little on edge. We've heard that criminals have been taking advantage of places where the shortage is leaving them undefended."

"Oh, so that's it." Naruto was still confused, but at least he was in his own country. Though, he'd never considered that the shortage would affect ordinary citizens like this. Iruka hadn't been kidding about how serious things were.

"I'm actually on my way to Konoha right now," Naruto said. "Can you tell me how to get there from here?"

"It's not far, but…" Kito's eyes traveled over Naruto's odd appearance, from his bright clothes to his shoeless feet."You should probably rethink going there right now. The village is still recovering from the attack, and Hokage-sama isn't letting visitors come in for the most part, except for aid workers. Most of our people went to help build in order to feel a little protected within the walls, since Tsugi-san had to be called back into duty. It's a mess over there."

Naruto frowned. Were things really that bad? "That's alright, I'm not a visitor. I may not look it right now, but I'm actually a Konoha shinobi. Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!" he added brightly.

The three glanced at one another and all burst out laughing at the same time.

"What's so funny?" Naruto fumed. Okay, so he didn't exactly look very official in his nightclothes. But that wasn't his fault!

"So, you're the Land of Fire's jinchuuriki? Konoha's hero? The one who stopped Pein all by himself?" the old man chuckled.

"Pein... jinchuuriki?" Naruto tilted his head uncomprehendingly, scowling. Now he was confused and annoyed. Unfortunately, that seemed to amuse them even more.

"I heard he was still pretty young, but there's no way he is a little squirt like you," Kito said. "It's cute that you look up to him, kid, but it's a hundred years too soon for you to go around pretending to be him."

Naruto was getting frustrated. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I am most definitely Uzumaki Naruto!" he slapped a hand on his chest. "And I am a Konoha shinobi, and I need to get back to my village before Tsunade-baachan finds out I'm missing and decides to beat me up for skipping out on missions when we're short on forces!"

This made them sober up a bit. They stopped laughing, at least.

"If you really are a shinobi, even a weird one, it's true you need to get back there. Konoha needs all hands on deck right now," Kito said seriously.

"That's what I'm saying." Naruto nodded vigorously. "So, can you help me out?"

"You just take this road south," The old guy said, pointing down the road. "It's about half a day's travel from here. Ah, well, probably less than that for a shinobi. I still find it hard to believe you are one, but if you weren't, I guess you wouldn't be fool enough to try to go to Konoha and pass for one."

"Where's your hitai-ate?" Shinji said suddenly, glaring at Naruto. "And all your ninja gear? And how did you end up here and not even know where Konoha is?"

Naruto grumbled and rubbed his head. "I dunno! I just woke up a little way into the woods there. I don't remember how I got here, so I'm hoping someone at home can figure out what happened."

"Ah... are you alright to go on your own?" Kito was looking doubtful, too.

"It's fine! It's fine," Naruto insisted, nodding more. "But, um..." he looked down at his feet. "I need some shoes... I don't have any money on me, but I'll pay you back as soon as I get a chance if you'll let me borrow some."

They agreed, and even though Shinji protested, they let Naruto take a pair of his shoes. They were simple straw tabi, not nearly as good as his ninja sandals, but better than nothing. The boys' father also insisted that he take a small pack of onigiri with him. Naruto thanked them and promised repayment repeatedly.

"Will he really be alright, I wonder?" Kito mused as they watched the boy take the road toward Konoha.

Naruto munched on an onigiri, walking at a slower pace to eat, now that he was starting to recognize the surrounding area. He knew that he really wasn't far from Konoha at all.

His chakra was restoring itself very quickly, and the food helped. He found that he could climb up a tree if he went slowly and concentrated. He had already used that to confirm his location a couple of times.

The tension he felt waking up had evaporated, but he was still confused. So far, nothing horrible had happened to him, and no one had confronted him. The road was quiet.

Naruto didn't know that Konoha had resorted to discouraging visitors. It probably reduced the chances of Orochimaru or the Akatsuki slipping in again, but how were they accepting missions if no one was allowed in? Naruto shrugged mentally and licked his fingers when all the onigiri was gone.

Hopefully, no one had noticed he was missing yet. Team 7 would probably assume he was out training if they had nothing to do, but if they were called to do a mission, he might be in big trouble. Naruto winced. How was he supposed to explain what happened, when he had no idea himself?

A sudden loud bark and deep throaty growl made him jump. Dropping into a battle-ready position in an instant, Naruto looked around quickly. The dense foliage on either side of the road made it difficult to see very far. He soon saw it, though. A huge white beast came stalking out of the bushes, head lowered menacingly. It was... an enormous dog.

Naruto stood very still and tried to figure out what to do. Distract it, and then run away? He might have enough chakra control for a few Kage Bunshin.

The dog came closer and sniffed at him. Suddenly it perked up its head, tongue lolling out of its mouth happily. It barked twice with a decidedly different tone than before and bounded up to Naruto, nosing at his face in greeting.

"Good dog...?" Naruto said, and the beast wagged its tail furiously.

"Oi! If it's just Naruto, then why did you run off so fast? You made it sound like there was an intruder or something,"

a familiar voice grumbled, and Naruto let out a breath he'd been holding when he saw Kiba emerge from the bushes behind the dog. "Sorry, man. We were on perimeter duty and Akamaru heard you coming. We didn't smell you at first, so I think it threw him off a little bit." He walked closer and looked at Naruto suspiciously, then sniffed. He pondered for a moment then shrugged, apparently satisfied, and jumped onto the giant dog's back.

"Um..." Naruto said. "Are you saying... that... is Akamaru?"

Kiba frowned. "Well of course he is, duh."

"But... he's huge!" Naruto wailed, and Akamaru whined through his nose.

"Seriously, why do you always go on about that?" Kiba crossed his arms and scowled. "I haven't noticed any difference. You exaggerate too much."

Naruto spluttered, wanting to protest and not knowing how, but Kiba ignored him. He and Akamaru turned to face down the path where Naruto was headed.

"I guess you're going back to the village? We'll go too, since it's time for us to change shifts anyway. Our team's been on perimeter duty since early on." He didn't wait for an answer, and the alleged Akamaru broke into a light run.

"W-wait!" Naruto jogged to keep up with them. "Perimeter duty?"

"Yeah, we've been put on that for now, since we're all good tracker-types and all." Kiba yawned. "I wish we didn't have to start so early, though. Damn! I need a nap. My mom dragged me out of bed before I was even awake. Why are you coming back to the village so soon, anyway? I thought you had that S-rank mission with Gai-sensei and those other old guys."

"Eh? S-rank? With Huge Eybrows-sensei?" Since when did he get S-rank missions? Ones that he couldn't remember receiving, at that.

"Why are you asking me? You're the one that told me about it this morning," Kiba snapped, glancing over at him irritably. His gaze stayed a little longer this time though, as if he suddenly noticed something. "Naruto, did you change your clothes since this morning? You look different."

"Ah…?" Naruto laughed confusedly. He wondered if he really did leave on a mission that morning and ended up in some kind of enemy trap that caused him to have a memory lapse. Or maybe it just messed up his brain so that nothing made sense.

Then again... he eyed the huge Akamaru and looked at Kiba, realizing the other boy looked a little off, too. He sort of seemed taller and more built, though it was hard to tell next to the huge Akamaru. Or maybe Naruto just wasn't used to seeing Kiba without his trademark hoodie on. For some reason, instead, he was wearing a tough-looking leather jacket that made him seem... older, Naruto decided.

Maybe this was the sign of genjutsu weirdness he'd been looking out for? Naruto tensed and glanced all around them as they ran. If someone was about to attack, he wished they'd get it over with already. All this tension and strangeness was getting on his nerves. He wasn't good at dealing with it.

They emerged on a hill Naruto was familiar with, one that overlooked the village.

"I'm gonna go around since I have to go report at the main gate," Kiba said. "See you later, I guess."

Naruto didn't answer. More specifically, he couldn't answer, because his voice stopped working. He stared down at his supposed home with wide eyes, and knew this could not be reality.

The settlement he saw down below was only a little bigger than Shinji's village, and made of similar wooden structures. But it was nestled in a space much too big for it. Naruto would have denied to the end of his breath that it was Konoha, except that he easily recognized the village wall and gate, like his home had been gutted from the inside of its shell and hollowed out. And at the back of it, there was the iconic Hokage Monument, displaying five faces. Five faces, even though the Fifth Hokage had only been inaugurated yesterday.

Konoha was simply gone. There was a gaping hole in the ground where his village used to be, and that was terrifying even if there was no way it was real. A cold numbness weighed down his limbs and completely jammed his thoughts.

"Uh, are you okay?" he heard Kiba say distantly.

Akamaru barked. Naruto barely caught movement out of the corner of his eye before the feeling in his body suddenly returned, at the point where he felt a sharp pressure prick his throat. A kunai.

"Hey!" Kiba cried. "What're you—"

"If you're going to impersonate someone, you should research it a little better." Naruto heard a chilly voice from behind him. "Your disguise is out of date."

Naruto turned his head a little to the left, away from the edge of the knife. "K-Kakashi-sensei?" The man behind him tensed when he spoke.

"OI." Kiba interjected loudly. "What's going on?"

Naruto was going to ask the same thing, but when he turned his head more, he caught sight of an angry red Sharingan, which swirled and pulled him into the blackness.

"Kai!"

Naruto opened his eyes and gasped as if emerging from deep water. The first thing he noticed was that he was bound tightly to a chair, ropes tied to his ankles, wrists, and around his chest. He was sitting in dim wooden room. It was dingier than what he remembered of the Hokage's office, but that was unmistakably where he was. The desk in front of him had a banner with the kanji for "Hokage" draped over it, and the Hokage herself was sitting behind it, arms crossed and looking at him with a great deal less warmth than he was used to seeing in her eyes. Morino Ibiki was standing behind her at a respectful distance, but still looked very imposing.

"Whatever it was, I didn't do it!" Naruto wailed, noticing Ibiki's presence. "Please don't torture me!"

"Tsunade-sama..." Kiba started, and Naruto looked to see both he and Kakashi there standing a little bit behind him. "I don't understand what's going on. What's got you and Kakashi-sensei so worked up? It's just Naruto..."

"Naruto left the village on a mission this morning," Kakashi said in a steely voice that sent a shiver down Naruto's spine. "Besides, can't you tell that this guy isn't our Naruto? He looks years younger, as if the enemy was working off old data to try and impersonate him."

Kiba scratched his face. "Does he? But he smells like Naruto..."

Tsunade leaned forward to rest her chin on her hands, eyes narrowed at Naruto. "If you put aside the fact that it is an outdated imitation, it is a perfect one, which apparently works even while the user is unconscious. It's strange that an enemy could do such a complete transformation, but make such a basic mistake as getting the age wrong."

"Akatsuki has created perfect copies in the past, using human sacrifices," Ibiki spoke up, stepping a little closer. "Though the user of that technique has been neutralized now, they showed it was possible. And we can't forget that Orochimaru also had considerable expertise in ninjutsu transformations, as well as actual physical alterations. With Yakushi Kabuto still at large, it's possible."

"I agree, but the question is, why would they go through the trouble for a disguise that would be seen through right away?" Kakashi said. "And if they were going to send a spy, they wouldn't send one that could be taken out by a simple genjutsu."

Naruto was a little irked by that comment, but he was too confused and afraid to really feel angry about the potential slight at the moment. "Look, I don't know what's going on either, but I really am me! Come on, baa-chan... Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his head. "There is another possibility... that it is Naruto..." Naruto perked up at that, turning his head sharply to give his sensei a hopeful look, "...that he found out the true purpose of his mission, and is pulling some kind of distraction scheme in order to escape."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "No," she grumbled. "I would rather it be an enemy nin..."

Kakashi thwacked him hard on top of the head with his fist, causing Naruto to screech indignantly.

"Oww! What the hell was that for?"

"Well, we know this one isn't a Kage Bunshin, at least," Kakashi said cheerfully.

"We'll know for sure once we get a reply back from Gai." Tsunade sighed. "If Naruto is still with them, they are supposed to confirm that it's really him."

Naruto squirmed in his bonds. "Um... you guys keep talking about some mission with Huge Eyebrows-sensei... as for me, I don't even remember getting a mission like that, so I think I'm probably having a really weird dream right now, or else I'm in some kind of genjutsu... first off, I know for a fact Orochimaru's attack didn't destroy the entire village."

"Orochimaru?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Pein of the Akatsuki destroyed the village."

"That's common knowledge all over the world by now," Ibiki noted. "Unless their intention is to divert, I don't see how this can possibly be an enemy spy."

"Akatsuki?" Naruto gasped. "Those black-cloaked bastards that put Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei in the hospital?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Kakashi looking at him very seriously. "Naruto," he said slowly, "What is the last thing you remember?"

Panic seized him. Did he have amnesia or something, and that was why nothing made sense?

"Tsunade-baachan was inaugurated as the Godaime, and you and Sasuke were released from the hospital." Naruto looked up at Kakashi's face, trying to glean some meaning from his impassive expression. "After that, Ero-sennin told me he was going to leave for a while to gather some information. Then I went home and went to sleep. And when I woke up, I was in a village a little outside of here."

Tsunade stood up, hair concealing her eyes. Naruto gulped as she walked around her desk and toward him. She reached out a hand and he flinched—but she only pulled at the string hanging around his neck, pulling it from under his shirt and revealing the slightly luminous green stone attached to it.

"You gave me this, yeah? Don't hit me," Naruto said instinctively.

She held the stone between her thumb and index finger, squeezing it slightly and frowning, as if listening to it.

"This was destroyed in the fight against Pein," she murmured. "No one should be able to replicate this chakra crystal."

"Baa-chan... h-hey!" Naruto said as she let go of the necklace and pulled his shirt up to where the ropes were tied around his chest.

"Shut up and focus your chakra," she demanded. "Mold it as if you were going to do a jutsu."

Muttering curses, Naruto did as he was told, and all the adults present craned to see the seal appear on Naruto's stomach.

"That's exactly how it looked before sensei re-did the seal, when it nearly—" Kakashi gave a sharp intake of breath.

"Okay, is someone going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" Naruto said.

"Seriously. I don't get this," Kiba agreed, and Akamaru whined. "Is it Naruto or not?"

"Ibiki!" Tsunade said sharply, turning to the man. "Relate all of this to Shizune. I am going to send a small ANBU unit to scout each of the nearby villages for any recent Akatsuki sightings. First will be the village he arrived in. Where was it, Naruto?"

"Um, it wasn't one that I knew," Naruto said. "I think it was about half a day north of here, but—"

"Shizune will bring in the readiest available combat squad for briefing and they'll be sent right away.

The rest will be organized into smaller scouting units and scattered out. You will be in charge of anything that they find. Try to contact Anko's team for any updates on the enemy's movements. Normally they would tell us right away if anything happened, but if the enemy got to them first..."

"Understood," Ibiki bowed and then vanished.

"Something like this happens right after Kabuto and the remnants of Akatsuki join forces. Who's to say the two are even acting separately anymore? Damn it, how can this be possible?" Tsunade stalked back and forth like a restless lioness, biting her thumbnail.

"They had immortals among their group," Kakashi said in a low voice. "There is no way of knowing the extent of what they are capable of, and if their goal is to capture Naruto, it makes sense they would go after a less experienced, more vulnerable version, if they had a way of doing that..."

"If that's the case, then why not get him as a young child, or even infant?" Tsunade said, just as quietly and intensely.

"I don't know," Kakashi admitted. "Maybe they can only detect hosts if they've already made contact with the bijuu's power, and Naruto didn't until after he became a ninja."

"OI," Naruto said loudly. "Eek!" he squealed as Tsunade shot a dark glare at him.

"No matter what, you always cause us trouble, don't you?" she growled. Suddenly her face softened and the corners of her lips even tilted up a little. "I forgot how cute you were at this age." She ruffled his hair. "Look at those puppy-dog eyes, Kakashi. No wonder I couldn't resist coming back."

"Baa-chan," Naruto said, half questioning, half embarrassed.

"Naruto," Tsunade inclinded her head toward Kakashi, who nodded and began untying Naruto's ropes. "We're going to take your word for it for now and trust you a little, but you need to listen to us in return, alright?"

"Sure," Naruto said cautiously. "Does that mean you're gonna tell me what's going on?"

"We don't really know what's going on, but yes," Kakashi finished untying and patted Naruto on the head. Naruto scowled.

"You can go, Kiba," Tsunade said. "But don't tell anyone about this for right now. If I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be changing patrol shifts, aren't you?"

Kiba winced. "Yes, Tsunade-sama. C'mon, Akamaru." Akamaru yipped briefly and followed his master out.

That was really weird. Since when did Kiba have responsibilities and actually listen to orders without complaint? Naruto's unease increased further.

Kakashi noticed him watching Kiba leave with confusion and coughed. "You're both way too thickheaded sometimes. Notice any differences with Kiba, Naruto?"

"Akamaru got really huge all of a sudden. But Kiba acted like it was just my imagination." Naruto scratched his head.

"You know," Kakashi said mock-conspiratorially behind his hand at Tsunade, "I guess I never noticed since it was so gradual and slight, but I think he did get smarter over the years."

"Ahhhh, mou!" Naruto shrilled, pulling at his hair in frustration.

"And a few decibels quieter, too."

"Just a few." Tsunade smiled, crossing her arms.

"You're doing this on purpose," Naruto accused, pointing at Tsunade and Kakashi. "First acting all scary like you're about to drag me in to be tortured, then making fun of me and talking in riddles!"

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We couldn't help ourselves. Seeing you like this really is nostalgic. But the truth is, we're worried," His grip tightened. "It seems that someone brought you here through time. What I mean to say is, you're in the future."

"Eh?" Naruto said blankly.