Second Chance

Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Return to Konoha and More Missions
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Kakashi and Shino stared at the two entities before them unsure of what to say. After all, what do you say to finding out that two people you thought you know were time travelers? Kakashi was trying to get his thoughts straight. Never once had he considered time travel to be among the things that the two of them had been hiding from the village. However, being so much older and war veterans to would explain the drastic change in the level of skill and maturity that they had been displaying since the academy graduation. If Hinata had known about this ahead of time, or at least some of it, it would explain why she hadn't been so concerned over the change in behavior. It would also explain why her skill set had been increasing far faster than he had anticipated. Closing his eye he began to ponder the outcome of every way that he could respond to these claims and what he would tell the Sandaime when he got back.

Shino on the other hand was analyzing the two of them and communing with his kikai. If they had lied or fibbed at any point in the story then they would have picked it up. He honestly had no idea what to say about the possibility that the two traveled back in order to stop, for all intents and purposes, the end of the world. The two of them, Sasuke and Naruto, he had always seen as practical (-ish in Naruto's case) and straight forward with their feelings. He had no idea why the two of them would lie about something that important. Furthermore it seemed as if Hinata had already been informed of this by one of them ahead of time. That indicated to him that they were analyzing everyone else around them for trustworthiness. While that wouldn't be a bad thing considering what they were up against it told him that there were people that couldn't be trusted in the village. Perhaps even among their graduating class. Nodding to himself he looked at the two he had come to know as friends.

"So is there anything that I can do to help?" The question took them by surprise but they quickly recovered and smiling happily at the Aburame. Naruto was thrilled that they could count on the Aburame's help for their self-imposed mission. Meanwhile Sasuke knew that it would be easier if they had more people working with them to accomplish their tasks.

"I honestly don't know what to say. Sensei was a genius when it came to fuinjutsu and jutsu creation but even he thought that creating any form of time travel was impossible. However, he also taught me that nothing is impossible so long as you continue to try. Something that you have proven to me already Naruto. If things had continued as they were without you coming back, would you have even passed your test?" Kakashi finally said. Naruto laughed a little.

"Yes and no. I would have failed the official test. However, Mizuki would have tricked me into stealing the scroll of sealing, which would have led to me finding out about Kyuubi and eventually being allowed to pass by the Sandaime. I would still have been on team seven but instead of Hinata we would have had Sakura. Hinata would have been on team eight with Kiba and Shino. Yes, you still would have had Kurenai." Naruto said apologetically. Shino groaned. He could only have imagined just how weak his future self was compared to Naruto and Sasuke if this was what they were capable of in younger, less trained bodies.

"I see. Well that is quite interesting. How far did you go with that team?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Honestly, I never made it passed genin. I was made Hokage after the Godai passed away because all of the other candidates were already dead. So in all honesty I haven't changed my rank at all." Naruto said surprising the group before him. "For that matter it was only after I became Hokage that Sasuke moved passed genin as well."

"Why would they..." Hinata started and then stopped wide-eyed. "THEY HELD YOU BACK BECAUSE OF KYUUBI? WERE THEY RETARDED?!" Her outburst startled everyone in the room and Naruto stared at the heiress open mouthed. He had never once heard her yell like that let alone insult someone. Next to him Sasuke was struggling to regain his wits as well. Shino had jumped initially but Naruto could hear his kikai buzzing angrily at the thought that he had been held back for something that he couldn't control.