Advertising KyLewin's Time and Again: [link] (Not that it needs advertising.)

As you might've guessed, it's a time travel fic. (I love those.)
I think it's the only one I've read where team 7 doesn't get the bridge mission... Really starts to diverge in later chapters. ^_^ Keep things interesting.

Youtube Soundtrack: [link]

Fic clip:

“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” Iruka asked after several minutes of silence.

Naruto shrugged and resumed his stirring. “I don’t know if you’d understand.”

“I know with my youthful appearance and upbeat personality it might be hard to believe, but I am ten years older than you, Naruto,” Iruka replied with a smile. “I doubt you’ve managed to find something in your first few weeks as ninja that I haven’t had to deal with already.”

Naruto caught himself just as he began to consider laying everything out to the chuunin. Not for the first time – though probably for the first time in this lifetime – he wondered if Iruka didn’t have some sort of bloodline ability that subtly encouraged people to be truthful when they spoke with him. He had plenty of years worth of evidence to support the theory, should he ever want to make his case, but still felt that it was more likely that Iruka was just one of those people you always felt like you could trust and who never intentionally did anything to contradict that assessment of him.

“I guess I just realized that my friends... er, teammates... might not always come back from missions. And I might... I might s-screw up a-and... get them killed.” A shudder ran through his body and he hastily wiped at his eyes again. “But I won’t let that happen again. I’ll make sure that I’m always watching over them and keeping them safe.”

Iruka frowned and brought another clump of noodles and meat to his mouth while he chose his words carefully. “You can’t protect the people you care about all the time,” he said after he had swallowed.

“Yes,” Naruto replied evenly, “I can. I can make it so you and Kakashi-sensei and Sakura and Sasuke and everyone else are always safe! No one will ever be allowed to hurt any of you, not unless they’re stepping over my dead body first!”

Iruka’s head snapped back as if struck by Naruto’s words and he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. Naruto suddenly realized just how loudly he’d shouted the last part. He looked around sheepishly and then slouched down with a quiet apology and returned to stirring his noodles.