A Hop, Skip, and a Shunshin from Sunshine

Chapter 1

Six years. That's how long the war lasted. Six years ago, all hell broke loose throughout the entire Shinobi world. Uzumaki Naruto leapt from tree to tree, racing against time to get back to the Allied Shinobi Forces' last standing base. Three years ago, he had been so, so naive to think that as long as the Five Great Nations worked together, they'd be able to defeat any enemy. Naruto had believed that he'd be able to defeat any enemy, what with Team 7 back together and his comrades at his back. He was wrong. There was one base left, and what, six, seven? Shinobi left fighting. The rest had either died in Otsutsuki Kaguya's onslaught or given up and went into hiding. He reached the base, and immediately headed towards the stairs that lead to the cellar.

"Is it done?" he asked. Sakura and Kakashi looked up from where they were finishing up the last of the seal.

"Yeah," Sakura said. Naruto had picked Sakura and Kakashi specifically (not that he had much of a selection to choose from) for their sharp mind and foundation in fuuinjutsu respectively, to draw the seal while he held off Kaguya's forces with Sasuke.

"Sasuke is still holding them off?" Kakashi asked, his eyes sharp, but not accusing. Naruto's face twisted. He had left Sasuke at the front lines alone, much to his chagrin, but it needed to be done. Sasuke would never forgive him if Naruto wasted more time on him and lost the chance to fix everything.

"Yeah," he said shakily. "As far as I know." He shook his head, focusing on the seal on the ground, giving it a once over to make sure it was correct. Well, as correct as an unfinished seal could be. Naruto had spent the last two years developing this seal, but still hadn't finished it. However, they had run out of time.

There was an explosion at the front of the building. Naruto locked eyes with Sakura and Kakashi. If the fight had reached there already, then that meant... no, Naruto refused to believe it.

"You need to go," Sakura said. She and Kakashi went to stand at opposite sides of the seal. Naruto closed his eyes, allowing a moment of grief for his fallen friend. Naruto knew that the two of them knew what to do, as they had gone over the plan thousands of times, but repeated the instructions anyway.

"Both of you only need to release a little chakra to activate the seal," Naruto reminded them, "The rest of the chakra that is needed will be taken from me, the person going back." They both nodded. The explosions were getting closer. Naruto smiled sadly at what was left of his team. Sakura and Kakashi shared a glance, and laid their palms on the seal, releasing a burst of chakra simultaneously. Naruto let out a scream, intense pain rippling through him as the seal tore his chakra from him. He collapsed to his knees, breathing hard as he felt his chakra continue to be drained. Sakura had shut her eyes and turned away, but Kakashi kept his eyes on Naruto, his gaze steady and firm, just like the man himself had been towards Naruto during the last few years. The seal glowed gold, then sparked for a second, flickering. All three shinobi held their breath, and then the light stabilized, and was enveloping Naruto's body. All three of them breathed a sigh of relief. It was working. Naruto looked down and yelped in excitement as he saw his legs turning into golden light. Sakura snorted. No matter what happened, Naruto still carried that tiny bit of carefree, happy sunshine with him. It had dimmed during the long years of wartime, but it was there.

"Remember Naruto," Sakura said, "Try not to come into contact with your younger self. I know you want to, but we have no idea what the consequences could be." Naruto grimaced. It was something they had all agreed on. Messing with time was something that should not be taken lightly. Just by going back, he was interrupting the flow of the space time continuum. If he were to bump into his past self, the consequences could be huge.

As Naruto felt more and more chakra flow out of him, the barest hint of Kurama's chakra stirred. The Kyuubi had gone dormant a little while ago from severe chakra exhaustion, occasionally stirring to check on Naruto, but otherwise silent. It was strange for Naruto, to not have a sarcastic, prickly commentator in his head at all times, but Kurama deserved some rest.