MY FIRST FANFIC IN FOUR YEARS AND MY VERY FIRST ENGLISH-WRITTEN STORY I'VE EVER WRITTEN OH MY GOD.
I found this story in my old notebook from three years back and I thought why the hell not? It seems like such a waste to leave it there just like that. Please take a note that English was my second language. Hell, I still even screwed up my first language sometimes! So pardon me for any mistakes in this fic. After editing here and there, this is the best I can currently do.
One thing that I remembered from when I wrote this fic was it was inspired from one of the fanfics in this site, with a similar storyline and a quite similar ending. But I can't for the life of me remember which was it. I just hope the author wouldn't be offended and thought I stole the idea from her. Let's keep it in peace, yeah?
Enjoy:)
Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine... yet *secretly plotting to destroy the world and then reforming it under one banner that is the awesomeness of anime* *cackled evilly*
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Konoha, October 10th, X27
The village was burning.
Konoha was burning.
Namikaze Minato wanted nothing more than to embrace his new little family in a warm and loving hug with some happy tears and throw themselves a little party because it was his son's birthday, and they were supposed to be smilling and laughing right now but he knew he should not, could not, because he was the Hokage, dammit, and he had some jobs to do, like defeating a goddamn nine-tailed beast.
The masked man he had been fighting earlier had vanished into the night, leaving a whole mess to be fixed behind. He hadn't given the man any more thought, though. His focus now was to the Kyuubi that was currently held still by Kushina's chakra chains, and his infant son curled in his arms.
"Minato, I'm going to reseal the Kyuubi into me. At least you could be preparing for the next few years for its reborn to the world," his wife said between gasping breath. Minato's eyes widened, then softened with pain.
"Don't look so sad, Minato," she continued, upon seeing the expression on her husband's face. "I'm… I'm happy. Happy that you loved me. Happy that it's…our son's…birthday. Like… if I tried to imagine surviving and the three of us…. living together….. I can't think of anything beyond I'd be so happy. If I had any regrets, it would be that I won't see Naruto grow up," she tried to smile while he tried to hold back tears but failing when something warm dripped down his cheek. He wiped his tear, then he made a decision.
He was going to seal the Kyuubi into his newborn son with Hakke Fuuin, a seal strong enough to hold back the Kyuubi with so little time left. But the Kyuubi's chakra was too much to be sealed by himself. The only option was to use Shiki Fuujin and seal a half of it into himself before finishing it off with Hakke Fuuin. When he told his wife about this, as expected, she refused.
"Why?! Why you?! The Shiki Fuujin would've killed you. I wanted Naruto to at least has one parent than no one at all! I don't want to leave him alone… Let me do it." He understood perfectly well. He, too, didn't want to do this if given more time and in other circumtances. But it was the last escort. He tried to reason with Kushina, convincing her that this was the only way they had.
"But-" the woman's protest died on her lips when she saw the look on her husband's face. Determination. He wasn't going to back down. Much like she usually was.
Minato started to make hand signs for the first seal. The Shiki Fuujin.
Ram-
He froze.
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An hour ago, year X48.
A blond young man strolled down what was remained from the clearing that was a battlefield not a month ago. Rotting corpses, broken kunai and shuriken, huge craters, dried blood, and cracked grounds were everywhere. He couldn't bear to see them without at least a single tear and a churning stomach.
Madara had won the war. After turning into the Juubi's Jinchuuriki, he killed the Gokage and destroyed the Edo Tensei version of the past Hokage effortlessly. After that, he slaughtered all shinobi that got in his way. He burned down every single villages until there was nothing left.
Even after Naruto had defeated him in a life and death battle, Madara had taken everything Naruto had promised to fight for with him.
Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-chan, Tsunade-baachan…..
He closed his now-dull blue eyes with a pained expression. Now there were only two people that had survived the merciless slaughter. Himself and-
"Hokage-sama," someone addressed him from behind.
Yes, he had taken the mantle of Hokage after Tsunade died a year ago. How he hated that title now…
"Don't call me that, Sakura-chan. You know there's no more village to lead. The title Hokage is just an empty name now," he answered with a wry smile, visibly brightened by the sight of his best friend, the very last survivor besides himself.
Sakura smiled sadly. The once bright, happy-go-lucky boy she had come to see and love as a brother was now just a living shell, worn from war, sadness, and guilt.
But they were about to change that.
"We're ready to leave, Naruto," she said shortly, knowing that he'd have understood.
They were going back to the past, twenty-one years ago, the day Naruto was born.
Two weeks ago, Kurama had come up with a plan. He said there was a lost jutsu from the time of Rikudo Sennin that could bring them to the past, long before the war to prevent it from happening. The original idea was to be sent back to the Warring Clans Era, before Konoha was built so they can befriend Madara and hopefully kill Black Zetsu before he got his hands on Madara and manipulated him.
Unfortunately, that was not a possible option to send them both that far back. The chakra needed was too great that it would only have been possible if it had been either of the two, not both of them. Neither one was going to go without the other, so they compromised. Their combined chakra was only able to bring them to the year the Rookie Nine was born, and the Kyuubi attack was the best day they could've chosen to start making changes.
They wouldn't prevent the Kyuubi attack from happening, however. Naruto needed Kurama's power to ever dream about defeating Madara. They just needed to make sure that both of Naruto's parents survive during the attack, because the Yondaime could've become the witness about the real culprit behind the attack, lessened the suspicion put upon the Uchiha clan, thus prevented the Uchiha Massacre. The Sharingan would've been a great asset if they somehow didn't manage to prevent the war.
Now they just needed to pray that all things could turn out to be alright.
"You ready, Kurama?" he asked the beast inside him.
As I'll ever be, brat, the Kyuubi grinned in his mind.
Naruto took Sakura's hand in his right before Kurama activated the jutsu, then they were both gone.
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Konoha, October 10th, X27
Namikaze Minato didn't get to finish the jutsu he attempted to do when a blur of orange and white flashed in front of him, an unfamiliar hand closed around his own that were currently in the ram-seal position.
He stilled for a second, before instincts kicked in and he took out a kunai for defense as he jumped a few feet away from the person.
"Who are you?" he asked coldly, eyes darting up and down the newcomer with a new sense of panic that he hid rather well with his cool Hokage façade.
Please, not another enemy. Not now! His mind screamed frantically.
He eyed the mysterious person. He wore a pair of shinobi standard black trousers, a blazing orange jacket, a white cloak, and a Konoha hitai-ate around his forehead. The young man looked like in his early twenties with tan skin and bright blond hair. What took him aback were the three slashes on each of his cheeks that looked like whiskers, as well as a pair of familiar blue eyes that he always saw on himself when he looked at the mirror.
It was like staring into an older version of his newborn son.
"Don't," the man whispered softly Minato almost couldn't hear it. "Don't do it," he continued with a slightly louder voice.
Minato narrowed is eyes in suspicion. Had this man known what he was going to do and tried to prevent it? Was he an enemy?
"Konoha still needs you. Your family… still needs you," the man raised his eyes to meet Minato's, and surprising the Yondaime when he saw many emotions swirling in his eyes. Exhaustion, desperation, hurt, guilt, and many more that he couldn't identify.
"What do you mean?" Minato asked, narrowing his eyes even further.
"The big threat to Konoha hadn't been eliminated yet, had he? He is a threat not only to this village, but the world as well. With you surviving this event, it could possibly prevent many bad things that are going to happen in near or far future," the blond stranger explained quietly.
It confused Minato even more. How did this young man know about the masked man? When he tried to step forward, he realized he couldn't even move an inch. Suddenly a gravity-like force pulled him down and soon he was lying on his stomach on the ground. The panic returned. Then he saw someone dropped on the clearing and ran towards the only standing blond.
"Hokage-sama." Minato's eyes widened at this. Why did this person -a pink-haired woman- address the seemingly younger blond as Hokage? What the hell was going on here?
"Sakura," he acknowledged her without turning his head. "Please attend to her," he pointed to Kushina's direction. "She won't survive without medical attention."
Sakura nodded and ran towards the exhausted-looking redhead woman. Naruto had trusted his mother's life in her hands. She woudn't let him down by letting this woman died on her watch.
"Kushina-sama," she greeted. "Let me heal you."
"Why should I trust you? You just came out of nowhere and decided to heal me? For all I knew you could've been sent by that masked man to finish us off," Kushina snapped. She was weakened alright, but that didn't mean the fire within her was burned out and she was just going to go down without a fight. She glared and the pink-haired woman before dropping to the ground in a fit violent cough.
"Kushina!" Minato shouted worriedly. Move, dammit! He yelled inwardly, but his body wouldn't follow his brain.
"Because you've had no other choice. Being treated by me and survive the night, or die for nothing," Sakura answered sternly as she started healing the ex-jinchuuriki, not even bothering to ask permission anymore. "And please withdraw your chains. You need to save as much energy as you can to stay alive. My Hokage can handle the Kyuubi," she continued.
Kushina widened her eyes at the proclamation, not missing the fact that the woman had called the blond man as her Hokage. Giving up, she let Sakura to heal her and hesitantly let go of the chakra chains.
Before the demon could move freely again, Naruto let his own bijuu mode took place and in seconds, another yellow beast with nine tails stood proudly and start attacking the orange one.
"Ah, its really good to be free again!" The yellow Kyuubi roared in delight.
"Kurama," Naruto called out to the demon, ignoring the bewildered look Minato and Kushina sent his way, and started ordering the bijuu. "Please hold him down for a while. I will start the sealing as fast as I can."
He walked towards his younger self that was currently lying near his father, sleeping peacefully, unaware of what was happening around him. He picked up little Naruto into his arms, causing Minato to trashed around, desperately trying to break free from his hold.
"What are you going to do to him? Let him go!" Minato shouted in fury. Naruto just smiled softly down at his younger self.
"I'm going to seal the Kyuubi inside him," he said.
"Why him? Why not me? Leave him alone!" Kushina roared from under Sakura's glowing hands, trying to get up and ran to his baby's side, but Sakura held her down.
"The future is bleak. I believe this child will be the light needed to make it a better place," Naruto anwered, still smiling softly. "He will be a great shinobi one day and do many great things. Things that I've once failed to do."
Kushina and Minato fell silent after hearing the conviction in this young man's voice and the warmth in his eyes with which he looked down upon their little Naruto. He spoke as if he knew what was going to happen and tried to prevent it. There was a look in his eyes that reflected so many unspeakable horrors, a look only found in war veterans twice his age, a look that had no place in such a youthful face. What had this man gone through?
Naruto then put the baby down on the ground and started the handsigns for a sealing technique given to him by the Great Toad Sage after he revealed his plan to go back in time. The technique didn't require a sacrifice like the Shiki Fuujin did. It just needed the blood of an Uzumaki, which he definitely had. When he put his hands on the ground after the last handsigns, glowing sealing arrays appeared around him.
"I wont let you!" The berserk Kyuubi currently in the future Kurama's hold roared in outrage. He wasn't just going to stand by and watched as the freedom he finally achieved after decades of being caged ripped away from him just like that. He thrusted his paw towards the younger Naruto. Minato and Kushina's eyes widened in horror.
"NARUTO!"
Everything happened in a flash. One second Naruto and Sakura were busy minding their own task, and the next they stood face to face, an enormous claw lodged in their guts, stopping it from reaching the baby lying on the glowing ground.
"Heh… heh… Not so fast, evil Kurama. Oi you, older Kurama, are you even doing your job right?! Having a claw through your stomach is not, under any circumtances, a good experience at all. It hurts like bitch, dammit!" Naruto scolded, making Sakura chuckled weakly. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?"
"I'm as fine as anyone can be with a claw in their gut, Naruto. Hurry up and do-" she choked on her blood. "The sealing."
If it had been any other situation, they both could've healed themselves easily, Sakura with the Byakugo no In, and Naruto with Kurama's chakra. But their chakra was already depleted after the time travel jutsu, and they only had a spare left for what their main objectives were in the first place; healing Kushina and sealing the Kyuubi.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. We were supposed to survive this and finish our mission. But as any other plans humans had ever made, the Kami weren't always so kind to just get along with it and help us," Naruto smiled sadly. He looked at the future Kurama who stared them down with remorseful eyes.
"I guess this is it, Kurama. As per our Plan B, if we didn't survive, I'm going to seal you along with your past self to little Naruto here," he then grinned brightly at his lifelong friend. "Thank you for being with me all these years, Furball. The future is in your and Naruto's hands now. It's been an honour to fight alongside you, partner."
"No, kid. It has been my honour to be by your side. I won't let your sacrifice go to waste," Kurama said, holding back a whimper of pain for his soon-to-be-dead Jinchuuriki. Naruto look down at his pink haired sister-in-everything-but-blood.
"Sakura-chan?" No answer. She wasn't breathing anymore. Her skin pale, her eyes closed, and Naruto just wanted to break down in tears seeing his remaining best friend so still like that. But he knew it was not yet over. He took a deep breath, then completed the sealing jutsu in one breath.
"Fuuin." He glowed brightly. Naruto then turned his attention towards his parents, who were staring at him in shocked after hearing his conversation with Kurama. The redhead Uzumaki was being supported by the now-freed Yondaime Hokage, both of them frozen in motion with gears turning in their heads. What little bits of information they could acquire from it, they concluded in their heads. Of all possibilities they could've thought, time travel was not one of them. He crinckled his eyes and smiled at them. "Live, and be happy."
He pulled Sakura's cold body into his arms and kissed her forehead.
As quickly as the brightness came, it was gone in another second, taking the two bijuu that were in a lock down before with it. All that was left, were the two bloodied bodies lying on the ground, one blond and one pink, tangled in each other's arms.
The silence of that night couldn't have been more deafening.
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SO. That was it. I planned to write one last chapter in Minato's POV, his feelings when his world was turned upside down like that. His son from the future dying in front of him after saving his younger self? Now that was not something everyone could claim happened at least once in their life, was it? But I still have no idea how to write it yet, so for the moment, this story is completed.
What do you guys think?
Love, Shion Lee.