Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto-kun. Ahh well... My loss, Kishimoto's gain...
AN: This storyline has just been floating around in my head for a while. I hope you like it! :)
Chapter One: Familiar Faces
Naruto sucked in breath in shallow gulps as he rocketed off branches towards Konoha. It was a trap. It was a trap. It was a trap, he repeated in a mantra. I should've known. What kind of Hokage am I to leave my village like that? He tipped his head up, watching the trees rush by, their colors blending into a monochromatic green tone.
Forty more miles. I can make it. Or so Naruto tried to convince himself. My village is being attacked, and I'm not there! A tear crept out of the corner of his eye. It slipped off the side of the man's cheek, and splashed onto a tree.
Though he long ago realized Sasuke was a lost cause, he fully admitted to coming like a fly to honey when "Sasuke" had sent a letter challenging him to a duel. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Naruto knew it wouldn't do any good - Sasuke had been completely eaten by his hatred and ambition - but he hadn't broken a promise yet.And now my village is in trouble. He shoved chakra haphazardly into his feet, causing the branch below (and now behind) him to break. Against his better judgment, Naruto lowered the chakra flow, slowing him down. He gritted his teeth.
He wouldn't allow himself to think of what may have happened in his village while he was gone trying to keep a eight-year-old promise to someone he wasn't even attached to anymore. Who is dead? Who isn't? What if- but he wouldn't let himself get any further. Mourning before he knew the losses wouldn't help. Twenty miles. I'm getting closer...
But not close enough. He pressed on, counting the miles down in his head. He passed a tree with a rusty kunai sticking out. Eighteen miles. The Valley of the End. Sixteen. A long-abandoned house ruined in the war with Iwa. Twelve. Three recently-dug graves belonging to a trio of countrymen. Nine. A rock in the shape of Pakkun's head. Seven. The carved shape of a heart with "Takemaru and Kataka" written in it.Four. A long-overgrown path covered in prickly brambles. Two.
He didn't bother to look for landmarks anymore. They had been more of a distraction from his thoughts, anyways. He knew the woods surrounding Konoha like the back of his hand. He raised his nose and sniffed. His brow crinkled. Slight smoke, old smelling. Dried blood. Metal. He relaxed slightly.
Those smells were normal for a hidden village. He was about to continue when - Paper and Ink? He frowned, trying to figure out what was happening. He couldn't concentrate on the puzzling smell. His mind was too wrapped up with worries about his village. Suddenly, he was on full alert. Something was wrong here! Naruto skidded to a halt, but it was too late.
He whirled around just in time to see the psychotically grinning face of a Iwa headband wearing foe before everything went black.
...o0O0o...
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Naruto frowned to himself and turned over, trying to avoid the incessant sound.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
He moaned in annoyance and opened his eyes slowly. He was in an all to familiar sewer pipe. His eyes widened, and he leaped to his feet, grabbing a kunai. Nothing.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Scratch that - nothing but a sound that will drive me crazy, he thought sarcastically. He kept the kunai in his hand as he walked purposefully down the maze-like passageways. It wouldn't do any good against Kyuubi, but years upon years of training had taken it's toll - making him extremely wary.
After about ten minutes - if time even passed there - he reached the thick bars of a cage. Where the doors of the gates met, there was a huge, intricately drawn seal. Surprisingly, Kyuubi didn't make an immediate appearance.
"Kyuubi!" He called loudly, staying well away from the cage. No answer. Well, it's not like he just decided to go for a walk. He's gotta be here somewhere... Naruto pressed his palms together and closed his eyes, searching for the demon fox's easily recognizable chakra. Nothing.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
A wave of panic swept through him.Did he... escape? He thought with dread. No - wait... he caused his chakra to looking more thoroughly, searching everywhere in the huge cage. Finally, he found the source of chakra he had sensed.
"Kyuubi?" He called incredulously. There was a growl from inside the cage. But unlike his normal growl, it was rather quiet. What happened to him?
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Finally, a voice came from inside the cage. "This is all your fault!" Naruto blinked. He had never heard something so... so... human come from the demon's mouth. "And that damned Fourth Hokage!" Naruto bristled.
"Don't insult my father!" He retorted. The growls increased.
"I'm the King of Demons! I'll insult who I want to." Naruto snorted.
"Some King of Demons you are. Sure you weren't mistaking it for 'King of Chibis'?"
"SILENCE!" Normally, Naruto's ears would've been ringing. But the fox's voice came barely louder than the average human's yell. Finally, the fox stepped into the light of the dirty lamps hanging on the stone walls. Kyuubi, King of Demons, Demolisher of Konoha, Fire Fox, etc - was currently about three feet tall. Naruto couldn't help but laugh. He really was a 'King of Chibis.' The sound echoed strangely in the room, never having been heard there before. The small fox's hackles raised, its shortened tails swirling.
"Don't laugh at me, weakling! I did this to save our lives! Some King you are - letting yourself get incapacitated by a lesser being like that. Bah!" Naruto frowned, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered... Sasuke? No, it was later that that. Something about Akatsuki... Madara! He had been running home to help when... when what? What had happened? That last thing he remembered was an unrecognizable face and the smell of ink. Seals! He realized in a flash.
"AARGH!" He yelled. Why hadn't he realized that? He had spent ages training with Ero-sennin, who always seemed to be either writing that pervy book of his, or working on seals. The man practically reeked of ink! 'The good shinobi is never blinded by emotions, and must remain in control and alert.' He, the Rokudaime Hokage, had failed at one of the most basic ninja rules! Even he had picked that up at the academy, and he was skipping class half the time! Finally, he realized the circumstances.
"K-Kyuubi?" He said shakily. The fox smiled toothily at the sound of fear in his voice. "What happened?" His smile dimmed slightly at the fact the Naruto wasn't afraid of him, but any fright was better than none.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
"They are no longer as you remember them," the Demon Lord answered, obviously trying to scare his container. Naruto gulped, eyes wide and unblinking. He said nothing, asking with his eyes. Kyuubi said nothing, enjoying the fear-filled silence.
"Damn it, Kyuubi, what happened!" The Hokage finally burst out angrily. Kyuubi smiled widely.
"You'll just have to find out, won't you?" And once again, the world faded into black, leaving only the faint sound of dripping to echo in his mind.
...o0O0o...
The darkness was different this time. Instead of being unconscious, dead to the world, it was more like he just had his eyes closed. His whole body was wracked with pain, as if someone were stretching him from all his limbs. The skin on his face pressed back into his scull, as if he were somehow running at a thousand miles a second. It went on for at least fifteen minutes. The pain. The dark. Everything. Until suddenly, he seemed to be squeezing through a small hole, slowing down. Then, his world exploded in light.
He landed on his feet, kunai drawn. He blinked in confusion.Was that real? He asked himself.If so, what happened? Everything seems to be the same. Indeed, it was true. He was standing in the same place he had just seem the Iwa-nin before he had visited Kyuubi. He narrowed his eyes. Something was different... he didn't come to this section of Konoha much - it was rather isolated, containing only a few farms and some of the ruins said Demon Fox had left.
He looked down. He looked the same as usual. Same black shinobi-pants with white wrappings. A long, dark red shirt. His white robe emblazoned with "The Sixth" kanji on the back. The Shodai's necklace - won off Baa-chan. He felt his head. Same slightly shaggy hair falling over his Leaf hitai-ite on an unusually long, black piece of cloth. Everything seemed eerily similar. Too similar. He sniffed the air, and his eyes widened.
The smell was completely different. Now it wasn't so strange for the smell of a place to change. After a fight, it smelled of blood and metal. During the spring, flowers and water. But smells don't change that fast. For the smell of the small clearing he was standing in to have switched so dramatically, over three months would've have had to passed. He sniffed again. Instead of the unique paper-ink combo he had smelled before, now he smelled a multitude of things. Fire. Slight blood and wood. A light, floral perfume, mixed with the salty smell of tears. Ramen? His eyes widened. Impossible... he reached out with his chakra, something he regretted not doing the moment he had arrived. He really was having an off day, especially for a Hokage.
He chakra expanded from him, feeling his surroundings. The usual trees, bushes, small animals and... four all to familiar people. His eyes widened. He would recognize those four anywhere. But how could this be possible? In his shock (he really had to work on that) he moved a second too late as he shot up into the treetops.
"Stop!" A familiar, deep voice said. He had been spotted. He peeked between the leaves at the four figures standing beneath him. Sakura-chan. That was the easiest to comprehend. He couldn't see her very well, though. She looked shorter. Younger. Kakashi-sensei; looking unusually serious, scanning around him with his one visible eye. Then came the other two. His throat caught. Jiraiya. But he was dead! Nagato had killed him before Naruto had managed to end his attempt at what he believed to be peace! The old sage had his eyes closed, sensing for chakra. Naruto's chakra was hidden to the point of being nearly invisible, something he did automatically.
Then... himself. Or what he used to be, anyways.
The other Naruto was dressed in his old bright orange, white and blue jumpsuit, and was looking oblivious to any danger he might be in.
"Hey! Ero-sennin!" Young-Naruto practically yelled. The Rokudaime winced at the loud voice.
"Quiet, Naruto!" Jiraiya said commandingly. The orange-clad ninja fell silent, and began looking into the bushes with untrained eyes. The elder of the two held his breath, remaining soundless. There was silence for the next ten minutes, broken only by Naruto scuffling his feet and shifting his weight impatiently. Finally, Jiraiya relaxed.
"It's nothing. Let's go."
"Nothing! So we were just standing there for noth-" The younger (and significantly less strong, Naruto noticed) version of Sakura bopped him on the head with her fist, driving him knee-deep into the earth. Knees! He scoffed inwardly. Hah! I had almost forgotten there was a day when Sakura couldn't bury me twenty feet under with just a flick! He shuddered involuntarily.
The ninja walked out of the clearing, but it was a few minutes before Naruto relaxed and leaped out of the tree. The forest was silent. He cocked his head. That's strange... thought Naruto. But I was always so... loud...
"Kuso!" He swore, running through seals at lightning speed and sinking into the ground just as Kakashi bore down on the spot he had previously been. He channeled his chakra, shooting him through the dirt until he resurfaced thirty feet away. Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sakura, and his younger self were all staring at him with varying expressions. The easiest to comprehend was his expression.
The younger version of himself was staring at him uncomprehendingly, holding a kunai in an unbalanced stance. He looked apprehensive, but mostly excited at the idea of a fight. Sakura looked puzzled, as if trying to remember where she'd seen him before. Her head was tilted, and she stood with her hand on her shuriken pouch, ready to draw on a second's notice.
Kakashi and Jiraiya's expressions looked pretty much identical. Angry. Sad. Confused. Naruto wasn't surprised. To them, he must seem like a ninja just trying to anger them by Heng-ing or dressing as their respective sensei and student. Before any of them could attack, however, he spoke.
"I don't want to fight. I just need to talk with you." His voice seemed to unnerve Jiraiya and Kakashi even more. They tightened their grip on their kunai. Hmm. No one ever told me I have a similar voice to my father... he thought. But that's off topic. How am I going to get out of this mess?
"Just let me explain-" he tried again. But Kakashi interrupted, something Naruto had never heard him do.
"Save it, and explain to us why you are dressed as a dead Hokage, not to mention wandering around in the Land of Fire." Sakura seemed to come out of her trance, and she suddenly looked enlightened.
"The Fourth..." he heard her whisper under her breath in awe. The uncomprehending blonde ninja next to her seemed to understand then. His eyes widened, then turned into a glare almost instantly. Great. Naruto thought sarcastically. This is exactly the sort of thing that gets me riled up even now, with my emotions repressed. I can only imagine what I'd do when I was his age.
"How dare you." His counterpart hissed quietly, his eyes hidden beneath shadows from his blonde hair. When he looked up, his eyes were red with black slits down the middle. Sakura took a step back, frightened, but Kakashi and Jiraiya shifted even more into fighting positions - their muscles bunching. They expected him to attack the "Kyuubi Kid," Naruto realized. Almost anyone else, Konoha ninja or not, would do so.
But instead of doing what they thought he would do, he smiled sadly. The older shinobi's eyes widened. "Uzumaki Naruto." The red-eyed blonde across from him nodded. His mind was not yet driven by the Kyuubi's will. Naruto could remember the days when he had only needed three tails to drive him crazy. They were not good times. "Nice to meet you." Jiraiya's eye twitched, but no one said nothing. Then:
"W-who are you?" Sakura asked in a shaky voice. Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering how to answer. He had two options, really. He pronounce that he was some one else - and therefore get attacked - or he could say his real name... and also get attacked. He gulped, wondering how to solve this one. He had a huge disadvantage in this fight. True, he could probably beat Kakashi and Jiraiya together, but they were fighting to kill, and he most certainly wasn't. He would rather hurt himself than them. This left out most of his jutsus. Choosing to avoid the question, he spoke again.
"I don't want to fight! I don't even want to be here!" Jiraiya snorted at Naruto's words.
"Of course you don't! You're pretending to be someone very close to three of the four people here! One of them a Sannin, one with a Sharingan eye and one with..." he stuttered, avoiding speaking the word 'Demon' or 'Kyuubi' in front of Sakura. "...something. And you're not even doing an adequate job of it!" He finished. Naruto had no doubt Sakura usually would have caught the toad sage's mistake, but she was rather preoccupied at the moment, to say the least.
"I'm not impersonating the Yondaime!" He said, exasperated. "Look! No henge" He gathered a bit of his chakra into his hands, made a hand sign, and said, "Kai!" Nothing happened. Kakashi's eye widened, and he took a step back, but Jiraiya remained in place. If anything, he looked even more determined to take Naruto down. But before Jiraiya could silence him, Kakashi spoke.
"Who are you?" Naruto's shoulders slumped. He couldn't really avoid this now. At least not without hurting three of his precious people. And himself. He grimaced.
"You aren't going to believe me."
"Try me." There was silence for a few seconds as Naruto sized them up. He was half relieved, half annoyed. Why wasn't Jiraiya be this dedicated to his training!
"Fine. My name... is Uzumaki Naruto." Everyone (minus the older Naruto) sweat dropped hugely. Kakashi and Jiraiya looked annoyed, Naruto was snorting, and Sakura was... looking at him with a critical eye. She always was the smartest... He thought nostalgically. "I'm not kidding." Still, no one believed him. He sighed. Then, he created clones. Clones upon clones. A second after he had used the hand sign, they were in a black, red, white and bright yellow room painted with slightly annoyed clones.
The four ninja opposite him's eyes widened. Then, Naruto grinned. A true, slightly evil, eyes-closed Naruto-grin. I haven't done this in ages. His grin became more evil. Then...
"HAREM JUTSU!" All the clones present vanished in a poof of smoke. It dissipated partially, revealing... modified versions of himself. The area around Kakashi and Jiraiya exploded in blood. Naruto raised his eyebrows, hiding his laughter. Ahhh... I've missed those ero-senseis...
Sakura was (unsurprisingly) scandalized, and was glaring at him. She opened her mouth - no doubt to give him a lecture - when the younger of the two spoke. Yelled, more like, actually.
"YOU RIPPED OFF MY JUTSUS!" This time, it was Naruto's turn to sweat drop.
"I did not rip them off! And you didn't even invent Shadow Clones!"
"Well, I invented the Harem Jutsu!"
"Well, as we are the same person, I did not rip it off! I invented it fair and square!" Sakura had snuck around behind Naruto and was shaking Jiraiya and Kakashi violently. Neither Naruto could blame her. It was minutes before they awoke, in which the time traveler kept his younger self rather busy. He, of course, knew all the right buttons to push.
"-DO NOT! YOU NEED AT LEAST .5 MORE GRAMS OF SALT TO MAKE THE PERFECT RAMEN!"
"Of course you do! It's not perfect until you add the extra salt to give it a more filling flavor, and the aftertaste." The orange ninja blinked.
"How did you know that?" Then, his younger self's expression took an even more enraged turn. "HE STOLE MY RAMEN SECRETS TOO!" Everyone present sweat dropped. Then, the sage tried to preserve his dignity.
"That was impressive." The two Narutos snorted, and tossed their heads. Both of them thinking, Impressive? That was godly! The other ninja looked creeped out. "But we still don't believe you. Your story is completely without reliability! First of all, there is no such thing as a time travel jutsu, and secondly, we have no proof those clones were solid. Anyone in Konoha could've told you about Naruto's - erm - jutsu."
"How can I prove it to you?" Jiraiya looked thoughtful.
"We won't be convinced with just one demonstration. First, how did you get here?"
"Seals. Iwa-nin. A fox. Distraction. I rest my case." No one except the sage seemed to understand. Kakashi, having no knowledge of seals, understood what he meant, but doubted time travel was possible, even with seals.
Jiraiya furrowed his brow. Then, he tilted his head up, looking at the 20-year-old ninja with widened eyes.
"The Kokugen Ryokou Seal? But that's untested!" He exclaimed, the red stripes leading from his eyes bunching slightly with wrinkles as his eyes expanded to previously thought impossible sizes. Naruto nodded grimly.
"Until now." Naruto answered. "Do you need more proof?"
"Yes. We want you to-" But Naruto didn't let him finish. He held his hands out, and pushed chakra in. Spiral. Power. Condense. The two spheres grew from normal size, becoming almost three feet in diameter each.
"Double Oodama Rasengan!" He jumped off the fir tree next to him, keeping the spheres aloft. He leaped off the tree at high speed, and held his hands out in front of him. He drilled straight through at least twelve trees, then the space in front of him exploded. He leaped back, dodging a few pieces of sharp wood that came shooting out of the tree from the explosion.
He Shinshuned back to his previous space. The Shinshun was probably unnecessary, but he had nearly unlimited chakra, and it looked cool. "Is that enough proof, Ero-sennin?" His jutsu, plus the sage's nickname, seemed to be too much for him. Jiraiya fainted dead away, hitting the ground with a "thump!" There was silence. Well that was anticlimactic... Naruto thought. Until his younger self burst out,
"YOU HAVE GOT TO TEACH ME THAT!" The older of the Narutos winced. His Kyuubi-enhanced hearing couldn't take such loud noises, to his friends - the older versions - amusement. They had appreciated the general decrease in noise ever since he had upped his power. Shikamaru and Sakura in particular.
"You'll learn it eventually. Anyways, do you guys need any more confirmation?" Kakashi, being the only adult awake, tried to stutter out an answer.
"Uhh... um... okay - what was the name of our first C-rank's employer's grandson?"
"Inari," Naruto answered immediately. Kakashi didn't look too surprised. There was an awkward silence. For the first time, Kakashi really looked at Naruto. He seemed to take in his resemblance to the Fourth Hokage, and his differences - both in appearance and personality. Naruto knew what he was thinking. 'You look exactly like your father. But you have your mother's eyes facial features, and attitude.' It was true, after all. Frankly, Naruto was amazed no one figured out his heritage ages ago.
The Hokage turned his head, looking at Sakura appraisingly. She blushed, and looked at the ground. Naruto was amused. What I wouldn't have done for her to do that five years ago. He smiled, and shook his head, smiling. Sakura-chan was practically his sister at this point. And it did help that he was completely and utterly in love with his wife, Hinata. His eyes swiveled towards his younger self.
The young Kyuubi-container was staring at him open-mouthed. Naruto couldn't blame him. It wasn't every day that you meet your future self, who happens to be the most ultra-awesome, handsome, strongest, coolest Hokage ever! Though, he thought, I don't think any of them have seen the back of my cloak yet. I would know if Naruto figured out he was going to be Hokage... he blinked. It certainly is strange to refer to yourself in the third person.
While Naruto had been thinking, Kakashi had successfully managed to rouse Jiraiya. The sage seemed confused for a second, then looked at Naruto, and leapt to his feet.
"Naruto?" He said loudly and incredulously.
"Yeah, Ero-sennin?" They answered simultaneously. The turned to each other, matching fox-grins in place. The writer shivered, seeming to foresee the trouble this would cause for the first time.
"Well," he cleared his throat. "I guess we'd better be getting back to Konoha." Naruto nodded, and jumped lithely onto a tree branch above them. Now that his two sensei knew who he was, they seemed doubly impressed by anything he did, no matter how easy. He looked down at them, smiling slightly.
"You coming?" He asked. His younger self grinned, and attempted to duplicate his stunt... only to land rather gracelessly on his back. Sakura jumped onto a much lower branch, while Jiraiya and Kakashi joined him on his branch. Kakashi nodded, and Naruto sped off towards the Leaf, with four extremely confused, impressed, thoughtful, and disbelieving shinobi struggling to keep up behind him.
END OF CHAPTER
New story here! Anyways, reviews are very much appreciated! I'll try to update soon :)
Thanks,
~Crumpled