The Nightmare
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Microsoft, or Supernatural.
NOTE: Every time you see line break it switches from each characters POV. If you see a number next to a word, look at the bottom of the page.
I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi,The Third Hokage, and am also known as The God of Shinobi, and I'm taking a break. It seemed as if all that Hokage meant was you get to do paperwork for the rest of your life, and go to council meetings in which nothing ever gets done, or it makes the job harder, and concludes with having to do more paperwork. It sounds a lot more interesting before you get the job, compared to when you actually have the job. Which is why I'm was always conflicted whenever Naruto told him about how he wanted to be Hokage. He doesn't want to crush the boy's dream, but this enemy is something he shouldn't have to face. I just wish something interesting would happen. Sometimes, he wondered if Minato sacrificed himself the way he did, just so he wouldn't have to do paperwork anymore. Even if he learned the Second's forbidden jutsu, Edo Tensei, he wouldn't be able to bring Minato back, and stick him with the paperwork. Suddenly, a purple portal came out of nowhere in front of him, and several seconds later someone came out of it. A young boy to be exact. He was white, had brown hair, blue eyes, and was skinny. His height was about 3'6"-4'. He wasn't sure to be exact. He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers that had a swoosh mark on them. He had what looked like a watch on his wrist. He looked around, then at me, and said something in strange language that I've never heard of before.
That boy was me. My name is Elioenai (1), but you can call me Eli for short. Most people do anyway. I'm 21 years old, and I'm a freshmen at college. I was just playing my Xbox One when something strange happened. There is something I have to know. Shouldn't it be called Xbox 3 like the Playstations? Or maybe X3 to make it sound cooler. I mean it's confusing since it's the third console in its series, not the first. Sigh. Anyway, I should probably stop ranting about video games. I have a more important question I need answered: Just where the hell am I? That should probably take priority. I think that getting sucked through a strange portal is more important then the name of a video game console. I look around. I seem to be in an office. There's an old man in a white robe sitting behind a desk. He looks very surprised to see me, which is understandable. I see a window behind him that has the heads of four people on a mountain side. It wasn't the faces of the presidents so it couldn't have been Mt. Rushmore. Especially, since the third head from the right looks like the old man. Considering I don't have any other options I decide to question him.
"Excuse me what's your name?" I ask him. He looks confused and something in a foreign language.
"Great. Just great. I get sucked through a portal in another land, and the one person who can tell me where I am doesn't speak English," I mutter to myself. I put my hands in my pockets and find my iPhone 5. My eyes widen. I'll be able to understand him! There's an app for everything and that includes translating foreign languages. Best part it doesn't require an internet connection to use. I just downloaded it yesterday. Interestingly enough, it was for this type of situation. Except for the portal part. That didn't factor into my plans.
I turn on the phone when I notice my hands. They're really small for some reason. Smaller then they were five minutes ago. I see a mirror and rush towards it. I stare at it in disbelief. This has to be a trick mirror or something. There's no way that's me. It can't be. I raise my right hand and wave at the mirror. My reflection follows the movements. Impossible.
Was that portal I got sucked in send me back in time? It would make sense, since I look like I'm eight years old. Actually, scratch that. None of this makes sense. Just why the hell do I look like that? I should be 2.5 feet taller. Or somewhere around there. Not the height I am now. I should also be at home playing video games, but that doesn't seem to be the case either. I put my head in my hands.
"What's going on?" I ask myself. "What's going on? Just what the HELL IS GOING ON?!"
The old man stands up. He says something but since I only speak one language it makes no sense. He starts to walk towards me, and I back away in fright, and hold my hands out. He might have been the one who brought me here. I wasn't going near him.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
Thankfully, he stops. Even if he can't understand my words he understands body language at least. Taking deep breaths I try to calm down. Not an easy thing to do. "OK Eli. Calm down. Take deep breaths. Don't panic. It won't help," I instruct myself. "Just calm down. Calm down. Calm down."
I take a few more deep breaths and analyze the situation again. I'm in my eight year old body with the mind of a 21 year old. I don't know where I am. If I did time travel, I don't know when it is. Is it 1996? Or did I go even farther back? Or is it still 2015? Or perhaps I went forward in time? OhmyGodjustwhatisgoingon? AmIgoingtobestucklikethisforever? I'm starting to panic again, but I calm down. "Deep breaths. Just take deep breaths." I follow my own advice and take several deep breaths. I look at the old man. Perhaps he can shed some light on the situation. Or maybe he's just as confused as me. Only one way to find out.
After turning on my phone, I select the app I needed and I point to myself. "I'm Elioenai." I don't trust him with my full name yet. I place the phone out towards him, and point at him. He points at himself then said, "Hiruzen Sarutobi." He said something else but I couldn't understand him. Luckily my phone could. I look at it. The language is apparently Japanese. According to my phone he said, "Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. Can you understand me? Are you alright?" I grin. Finally something is going right. I speak into the phone. "I can understand you. Although as for being all right, what do you think?" It then proceeds to say that in Japanese, and Sarutobi nods.
"Good. Where are you from Elioenai?" Sarutobi says.
"Firstly just call me Eli. I'm from America. And considering you're speaking Japanese, I'm guessing I'm going to say I'm in Japan, correct?" I answer him expecting him to confirm my guess.
I was wrong. "America? Japan? I've never heard of those places. You're in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, not Japan. And we call the language Basic not Japanese."
I stare at him. I thought he was intelligent but apparently not. Then again there is a chance he's either joking or senile. Or maybe both. I clear my throat and narrow my eyes at him.
"You know, considering I just somehow came through a portal, I'm in my eight year old body, even though I'm 21, and I have to use my cell phone to understand you, I'm really not in the mood for jokes. Tell me where I am. Now."
"I'm not joking Eli. Your are in the Hidden Leaf Village, not Japan or America. And you should be more polite to your elders. Didn't your parents teach you that? Besides you don't look like you're 21."
I can tell when someone's lying, and from his tone of voice and the look in his eyes, I can see that he's telling the truth. Great. Just great. I'm in a village somewhere and the leader of the village hasn't even heard of America. He speaks Japanese but he's never heard of Japan. That's like saying you live in Miami but have never heard of Florida. I look at phone to see if I'm getting any service. I'm not. Just one other thing to add to the list of things not going my way. I sigh. I really shouldn't be rude to him.
"Sorry I'm just stressed. And I really am 21. I guess it had something to do with that portal. It must have changed my appearance. Anyway it doesn't seem as if I'm getting service on my phone, so do you have a telephone, so I can call my parents? It will be quite a shock to see me like this I'm sure, but I would really like to go home."
"I'm sorry, but what's a telephone? Is that what you're holding?"
"What I'm holding is a phone. Well to be more specific it's a cell phone. It's what you use to contact other people who aren't in your area. The ability to translate different languages is just one of the many things it can do. But you've never heard of a telephone?"
"Should I have?"
I can't believe he hasn't heard of a phone. If he said he never heard of a cell phone, but he has heard of a phone, yet didn't have any, that would've been one thing. But then again, I'm talking to a guy who hasn't heard of Japan, when he's clearly speaking the language, so I'm in some backwards village. But never hearing of a telephone? I mean I can see a lamp, so I know the light bulb has been invented. And wasn't the phone invented just before the light bulb? Just when am I?
"What year is it Lord Hokage?" I ask him fearing that I've gone back a couple hundred years.
"1170 A.D.(2)"
That's when my brain decided it needed to shut down for a while.
"1170 A.D."
I was expecting many different reactions from Eli to hearing that information, and when he started to collapse, I wasn't surprised. I caught him, put him in a chair, took the... cell phone, and sat back down behind the desk. It seems I got my wish about something interesting happening. A young boy, claiming he was an adult, and couldn't speak to him without that strange device, came through a portal, and just fainted. He seemed sure of himself and didn't have a look in his eyes that told him he was crazy. Then again, there is Guy and Anko whom could be considered as crazy, but Eli seemed different from them. In other words, he wasn't screaming about youth or sadistic. He's normal enough.
As I regarded young Eli, I thought of what could be going on. It is possible he's a shinobi from another village, and that was a time-space ninjutsu, and they're trying to spy on Konoha. Perhaps from the Stone or Cloud village. But why would he claim he's from another place that doesn't exist? I've never heard of those places before and I've traveled all over the Elemental Nations. Also, I don't think 8 year old spies would claim they're adults. It would be more efficient to go with the innocent child approach.
"Perhaps that portal did change his appearance," I mused.
I look at the device he dropped and examined it. It seems very strange. It's obviously not an explosive, or any type of weapon, or if it is, Eli hasn't activated that part yet. The words were in some strange language that I didn't understand. He did say he came from a place called America. Is it only meant for the people of his home country? Yes that would make the most sense. Just another thing I'll have to question him about. Suddenly, the screen goes black, and I can't see anything on it. "It must of turned off." Putting the device on the desk I look back at Eli. He seems to think we're a backwards village. This America must be more advanced in technology than Konoha is. I wonder what else they have that we don't?
I was just about to start back on the paperwork when I hear him groan. Looks like he's waking up. Good. Anything to get me out of that. He shook his head and holds out his hand. I give the phone back to him and he looks at it. After pressing a button and tapping a few times on the screen it goes back to what it was originally. He speaks in that strange language and that voice comes out a second later.
"OK. Sorry about that but I think my brain must of needed a reset or something from what you just said a minute ago. Now what was that year again? Because I had to have misunderstood you," Eli said.
"1156 A.D. You didn't misunderstand me. Why? What year did you think it was?" I asked curiously.
"Well, the year was 2015 before I came through the portal. Then I thought it was 2002 when I saw in the mirror that I looked 8 years old. Then when you told me that you've never heard of a phone, I thought I went back a couple of centuries to the 1800's, which would've really sucked. Now you tell me I've gone over 800 years into the past," Eli answered and shook his head in despair.
My eyes widened at that. That portal took him over 800 years in the past. No wonder I've never heard of these places he's mentioned, or carries things I haven't seen or heard of before. The country he's from hasn't been found yet, and the telephone isn't going to be invented for another 600 years.
"Nothing's going right for me. I'm in the body of an 8 year old, I've traveled over 800 years in the past, which means I have no friends, no family, I can't call anyone, and I'm in a place that has no technology whatsoever. This is a nightmare," he said, and I agreed with him.
"Wait. That's it. That's the only thing that makes sense. It's a nightmare. I'm dreaming. Granted, it's one of the most realistic and oddest dreams I've had, but it's a dream nonetheless."
"What do you mean? Why would you think you're having a nightmare," I ask him, wondering if he is crazy after all, or if he's in denial, looking for an explanation, no matter how bizarre.
"When I was playing video games, don't ask, I was feeling tired. It was 2 AM, but I'm a night owl. I must have fallen asleep, even though I thought I didn't since I was still playing. So when I did, that portal came up in front of me, pulled me into it, and I landed here," he explained in an excited voice.
Raising my eyebrow at this, I motion him to continue. "If that's true Hokage and it is a dream. Then I know how to get out of it. I know how to get back to my family and time."
"And that method is..."
"To kill myself," he said simply and I jumped up in shock.
"What? Why would you kill yourself?" I yell at him.
"It's said that the moment before you die in a dream, that's when you wake up(3). So if I kill myself, the moment before my death, I'll wake up from this nightmare. Because I would really like to wake up."
"This isn't a dream, I can assure you. It's real."
"Of course you would think it's real. After all, you're part of it."
"And what if this isn't a nightmare? What if this is real, and that there is a reason you were brought here?"
Eli was quiet at that, and I thought I got through to him until he said, "If this is real and I'm not dreaming, then it's even worse isn't it? I mean think about. All of my family and friends don't exist. I'm in the body of an 8 year old with the mind of a 21 year old. The technology that was in my time doesn't exist. I have no money. No place to go. I can't read or write in your language. I can't speak it without my phone and when the battery dies, or if it breaks, I won't be able to understand you. And I only have two hours worth of battery left. Two hours and I won't be able to understand a word you say.
"So Hokage, what reason do I have to exist? What is my purpose in this time? If I have no purpose, it's the same as being dead. I have no one who will even miss me when I do die in this time. In this time, in this place, I have nothing. I am no one."
My heart broke at what Eli said. I wanted to say that he was wrong, that he has a purpose, but I couldn't because he was right. Everything he said was true. I could stop him of course. Have a seal placed on him so that thoughts of suicide would be banished from his mind. Or put him directly under my control. But I'm not someone who will take away someones free will. I look at his face and saw fear at what he was about to do to himself. But he saw something else as well that shown more than fear. Determination. He believed this was the only way. And if he did die, I would make sure he gets a proper burial. I take a kunai out from my desk, and hand it to him, handle first. Eli takes it from me, smiles, and points it right at his heart.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage. You know, it's too bad you couldn't make copies of yourself to split the workload. You might get that paperwork done a lot faster. Goodbye." Eli said, and drove the kunai through his heart before he had a chance to say goodbye.
Just before the kunai was about to kill me, I open my eyes and look around. I wasn't in that office, there wasn't an old geezer around, and there I didn't see a mountain with four heads out the window. Instead, I was in my room, and about to face the final boss on the game I'm playing. I look at my controller and notice my hands. They're larger than they were in the dream. I turn and look at my mirror that's hanging on my door. I was in my adult body. I sighed in relief. It worked. I think it's time to go to sleep now. Hopefully, I won't be in that nightmare again.
The End
*Elioenai means in Hebrew: my eyes look to god. Originally, I was going to have him be the son of Nagato and Konan or Yahiko and Konan in another story. Since Nagato thinks he's a god, and Yahiko wanted to become one, it would be a fitting name for their child. But I don't have much of a plot for that yet, but it will be used if I do.
*The calendar starts when the Sage of the Six Paths died in this story. We know it's been over 1000 years since he died. It's also been over 100 years since Konoha was founded. So it's been 1170 years since the Sage died. And he was 68 when he died and this takes place a few days before Naruto learns about Kurama. Since there is no year date in Naruto I made my own up.
*In the Supernatural anime, that's how Dean woke up from the dream the djinn put him in. He took a knife and stabbed himself, and since that is one of my favorite shows (although personally I think it should've ended in Season 5), I decided to go with that route. The moment before he died he woke up from the dream.
Please Review. I got a bunch of other ideas that I thought of, and I'm already working on another.