Disclaimer: Anything not mine is disclaimed.
WARNINGS: AU, OOC, OC, SLASH (Boy x Boy)
*Title taken from the song Home by Tablo ft Lee Sora. It's a Korean song with absolutely lovely lyrics (subs can be found on youtube for those interested).
Prologue
'How did it get to this?'
This thought repeated itself consistently in Naruto's mind as he sat huddled with the other two members of his team. They were hungry, cold and so so tired. It has been a month since the war had started and the Fifth had sent them away. The explicit orders, in her words, were to 'get the hell away from here' and to 'make sure the heirloom does not fall into his hands'. Two weeks, five days, and seven hours has passed since he and his team last heard from the Godaime - sixteen hours since they made a small camp out of an abandoned fox den. They have been on the run, never staying at one safe spot for too long. They avoided big villages and skipped any areas with shinobi. Any place that required them to show identification was too risky since it left a trail that can be traced.
"Guys, we're down to our last soldier pills" Mitarashi Anko, the only female in their three-member squad, murmured. She gave a slight distressed moan as she dug through their depleted food storage scrolls and came back empty-handed. "The pills will only last us three days - five if we don't move."
"That's not an option" the eldest of the three of them, Morino Ibiki, shook his head. "We cannot stay here. We'll be leaving in thirty-eight hours."
The blond sighed."All we've been doing is hiding... When he catches up to us, then what? We don't even know where he is coming from, if he's even chasing us." He rested his head on his knees, arms wrapping around his legs to keep them close to his chest. "I should have never went to get the heirloom."
Ibiki whacked him on the back of his head."Get rid of the self-deprecation, Naruto. That madman would have gotten a hold of it if you haven't already taken it. He went after the jinchuuriki first and since you've ruined that plan of his, he had to make do with another one. It just so happens that the Uzumaki family treasure can help him achieve his goal."
"But still... All we're doing is delaying the inevitable. When he finds us, there's not much we could do."
"None of that, Naru-chan. That's just saying that the army that we have against him will be unable to hold him back. That's several thousand people against his few" the kunoichi patted him on the shoulder.
"When have you become an optimist, Anko-chan? We haven't heard from Hokage-sama since that missive she sent weeks ago."
The three fell silent. Tsunade not being able to send word about the situation on the war front is not that big of a problem. The ninjas were busy fighting after all... But it's been a month since the war started and they have not been recalled. That could only mean bad things: the Hokage is dead or the war is still ongoing. The second possibility is pretty unreasonable. Several countries against a handful of powerful nuke-nin should not take that long. It was not country against country. There is no politics to this - just a crazy immortal who has it in his head to rule the world.
"We should head back" he suddenly declared.
"Back?" the other two questioned.
"We'll circle around and run back to Konoha. If we're being followed, it meant that he has left Hidden Leaf. We'll just go home to scout and see how everything is going. What are the chances that he'll still be in Konoha waiting for us anyway?"
"Home, huh?" Ibiki gave a grim smile.
Anko unfolded the map she had in her pouch and smoothed it out on the ground. "We are currently at the outskirts of Ishi no Kuni (Stone Country). If we head straight back to Konoha, it will take us about four days. The soldier pills will not last us that long."
"No. Save the pills for emergencies. We'll make short stops along the way. We should head north into Tsuchi no Kuni (Earth Country) then southeast into Kusa (Grass) before going back to Hi no Kuni (Fire Country)" he informed, his finger directing the path they would take.
"That will take us eight days!"
"We have all the time in the world... That is until he manages to get the heirloom or we get a missive declaring him dead" Naruto replied bitterly. "Uchihas are nothing but trouble."
Their small campfire burned steadily as they settled in for the night. Ibiki moved towards the front of the cave, taking the first shift.
'Kami-sama, please let everything work out... please.'
**(Eight days later)**
They saw the destruction miles before they reached the border of their village. The monumental Hokage Mountain had been destroyed to rubble, only a peak remaining in the distance to remind them that they are at the right place. Dead bodies littered the ground like fallen leaves near the end of autumn and Naruto could make out the hitai-ate of several Kumo (Cloud), Kiri (Mist), Iwa (Stone), Suna and Konoha nin. As they walked further into the carnage, he spotted the green jacket marked with the kanji 'Kake' belonging to their leader and his heart skipped a beat.
"Please let me be wrong" he begged to himself, rushing over to where he detected the distinguishable piece of clothing. His two team members followed after him without question and they too, froze when they arrived at what he had seen. Resigned, he turned the decaying body in his arms and closed the unseeing eyes. "Rest well in the afterlife, Baa-chan."
"What now? There's no village here to stay in, no people left to greet. All we've done is give lives to him" Anko growled in frustration.
"At least that backstabbing traitor is gone" Ibiki snarled viciously, kicking over the dead body of Kabuto. We should gather the dead up and cremate them."
"No" the blond held up a hand to stop them, "there's still one more thing we can do... but we'll need the bodies."
"Naru-chan?" the purple haired kunoichi frowned in askance.
"Remember that seal that we never got to test out?" he inquired. "And I told you that we don't have enough chakra to pull it off?"
The head interrogator gained a look of epiphany. "The time travel array... How does this situation fit in?"
"Heh. Everyone has chakra, including civilians. Whereas shinobi molds and channels chakra through the chakra circulatory system to perform jutsus, the chakra remains dormant in the villagers... but where? Blood - our cells carry this energy." Naruto patted the ground to direct their attention. "As you can see, the blood that had been shed here has left the soil compact; the ground is soaked in it. We have our power source right here. And the bodies have not yet fully decomposed, we can still use them."
The other two looked a bit uncomfortable. "We'd be desecrating the dead... they are our fellow shinobi."
He snorted and looked up at them. "At least their death will not be in vain. If we don't do this, sooner or later, that megalomaniac will catch up. We would be useless then. We have one chance to make things right again. If it means taking the blood of our already dead comrades, I'd grab it and go."
"When have you become so cold?" Anko muttered, but she began moving several bodies away to create space for their youngest member to work with.
"When undead Uchihas decide that they can rule a world rid of people. That's when" Naruto sneered, carving the earth with a kunai. "That clan is the bane of everything. Ambitious, obsessive, greedy bastards."
The other two had no comments, knowing why the teen thought that way. Silence fell upon the group as they proceeded with their time travel plan.
Ibiki shifted on his foot after an hour passed. After days of running and hiding, paranoia starts creeping in the longer they stood out in the open.
"I'm done" the blond informed softly. "We'll need to pour blood over the array. Can one of you cast a katon jutsu to harden the soil?"
Anko did as told while Ibiki picked through the shinobi, choosing the bodies of those not from Konoha. It took forty-eight men's blood to fill up the seventeen feet diameter and six inches deep circular array.
"Okay, now we stand at the three points and channel some chakra to trigger the seal" Naruto indicated to the three smaller circles drawn within the arrangement. "The blood will do the rest."
The three took their places, careful not to mess up the work, and formed the ram seal.
"Fuuin!"
The liquid shimmered a bright ruby for a few seconds before the array activated; a blinding blue light emitted from the seal. The group held their stance as a huge gust of warm wind enveloped them, tearing at their clothes and whipping Naruto and Anko's hair around.
cra-ack
Naruto's sharp hearing tuned in on the noise. Blue orbs darted around looking for the source. 'What is it?' It didn't take long for him to notice the hairline fractures forming along the edge of the design near Ibiki. His eyes widened, mind quickly roving over the reason for the rift. 'Shimatta. Damnit!' He cursed mentally, but it was too late to do anything. Sighing in surrender, he wished for the best. He never noticed the spinning sharingan observing them from the lone peak in the distance.
'How clever...Naruto-kun.'
A/N: So... this is a rewrite for Of Wind and Fire. No more psychotic trio, but hopefully better characterizations as the story continues. I will still be taking certain things from OWaF though. This will be completely AU. I gave up on the Naruto manga and anime a long time ago... so unlike the old fic, this one will not be following the canon storyline. I will have to research a lot of things on the wiki so please correct me when you see an error. Some scenes might make an appearance though... I'm not writing a completely original story haha. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I have not written any fiction in my absence. :(
Question 1: I googled "Does a dead shinobi still have chakra?" and I couldn't find an answer. In this story, they do. What do you guys think?
Question 2: Who still wants MadaNaru? This is not really important. If there is, more relationship drama. If not... well... less relationship drama? Haha. I haven't decided. You guys help me choose. (Vote in my profile please. While I do read and appreciate all your reviews, the poll makes it easier)