I do not own Naruto, Sailor moon or any of the ideas and concepts taken from the aforementioned sources. This story is written in no way for profit, merely the enjoyment of the author and those who would read his works. Please keep criticism constructive. If you do not like it then do not read it. Thanks. Please enjoy.
Interesting Ways - Chapter One
I felt it searing my body, a coruscating supernova of energy bound, at last, to my will. For my entire life I had been forced to battle and contain this raging ocean of pure unadulterated power and with the curse there had been consequences. Consequences that had seen those I loved and cared about, my precious people, suffer for my foolishness and lapses in control. No more! Here within the seal, placed upon me by my dying father on the day of my birth, I finally felt at peace with myself and my role as a jinchuuriki.
My mother, or at least a phantom imprint of her long deceased consciousness, gazed on proudly as I manipulated the pure elemental chakra, spiralling the gleaming golden energy into complicated patterns and constructs that had up until now eluded my control. With these patterns a few simple hand seals would launch an offensive barrage of techniques that few would be able to successfully withstand. The storming crushing presence that haunted me every day of my young life was noticeably absent, replaced with an almost insufferable obedience to my every whim. I had claimed my birthright at last. The chakra of the most powerful to all the tailed beasts, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed demon fax, was mine to command.
"Naruto-kun"
I tore my eyes away from the dancing weaves of power an grinned widely at my mother's spirit, beaming at the undertone of approval in her voice. My grin evaporated however when I saw the tears in her eyes, reminding me of her plight. I swiftly released the chakra, intoxicating though it was, and struggled to think of something to say but the words just wouldn't come. We were together again and for the first time in my life I could reach out and hold my mother's hand, see her face and bask in her parental love and approval. But she could not stay. The thought that I had maybe just a few more minutes to get to know the mother I had never known twisted like a knife in the gut. Kushina Uzumaki had given her all to allow me to conquer my foe. Her own special chakra had restrained the fox and allowed me a few precious moments to regather my strength and formulate a plan of attack. Now, with her final task completed, that last piece of her soul that had been ingrained in my seal all those years ago was fading fast, going to rejoin her beloved in the afterlife.
"Mom", I began and then had to stop to choke back the tears. How do you say goodbye to the person you had yearned to know all your life. How could I let go knowing that there in front of me stood the family I had been so cruelly denied. It just wasn't fair.
"Naruto", she responded warmly and I knew that she knew and that was enough. Her form was visibly starting to waver now and as if aware her time was coming to an end she continued, "Naruto, I, well your father and I, have one final gift to give you before you go."
The calm, beautiful smile that had adorned my mother's face had shifted slightly and as she carelessly brushed back a lock of scarlet hair that had fallen across her eyes I realised with shock where I had seen that smile before. It was one that I often wore myself, a decidedly mischievous and foxy grin. As I stared at her open-mouthed she let loose a little giggle, undoubtably amused by the way my jaw was touching the floor, and resumed speaking.
"Naruto, your father, my Minato-kun, was one of the most talented ninja our world has ever seen, perhaps the greatest developer of jutsu since the Great Sage himself walked the earth. I am sure you learned in the academy that he specialised in the manipulation of time and space through the use of my help of course." At that last statement my mother stood in what I assumed she believed to be a heroic pose, chest puffed out with pride.
I recovered quickly from the sight of my mother's antics, time was of the essence after all and began to twiddle my thumbs nervously. I nodded hesitantly
" Well I didn't really pay much attention to all the lecture Iruka-sensei kept coming up with, most of them were really dull and all I wanted was to learn some cool moves at the time."
I suddenly began to sense the rise of motherly fury building up in the air and gulping out a yelp of terror quickly blurted out, "B-but Ero-sennin, I mean, Jiraiya-sensei taught me alot about dad although to be honest I didn't really know why at the really understand why at the time." I felt that tide of repressed fury recede a little and let loose a short sigh of relief. Mum could hit harder than Sakura-chan and was twice as scary when pissed. I saw mum school her features again as she matched my sigh with one of her own.
"You really have too much of your mother in you for your own good Naruto-kun.", she said, her exasperation obviously direct as much at herself as it was me, " That being said I believe you managed to get your father's perchance for jokes." Again she assumed the foxy grin. "Before he died your dad put together quite a masterful one to play on his future child."
I saw now that those tears that had been held in check so long in the corner's of her strong, violet eyes were now flowing freely down her pale cheeks. It must be so hard for her to even dream of the family that might of been. Mom, Dad, myself... maybe even a little brother, or sister, or both! It brought to mind what had been lost to so many families on that night when the Kyuubi had rampaged through the village I called home. An attack that may never have happened but for the harbored grudge of a crazed phantom from the past. I felt a searing pain in each fist and knew without looking that in my rage my nails had broken the skin of each palm and the swelling warmth indicated that I had drawn blood. My mother began to speak again, slowly and deliberately so I would catch every word, distracting me from my thoughts of what I would do if I ever caught that masked bastard.
"The idiot created an item one afternoon when I left him alone too long in his study, the result of an experiment with seals, my country's seals I might add, gone wrong. I believe he tried to combine one of the Whirlpool's guardian gate seals with the time space-altering effects of his own Hiraishin technique." Mom then shook her head as if exasperated with the foolishness of men all the while continuing with her tale. " Men and their toys! Anyway in doing so he created an item the likes of which he had never seen before, that the world had never seen before. He said it created a link to another world, just like ours but different or something..." My mother stopped her tale again and then pulled her long red locks and gazed off into the distance in frustration, letting out a small growl. I knew instantly that I would not want to be my dad right now if he had been alive. Could spirits hit each other in the afterlife I wondered? If so Dad then you had better be prepared for when mum catches up with you on the other side. "Damn you Minato!", I could hear her mutter before she once again looked me in the eye.
"Sorry Naruto-kun", she said as she gave me another of my own trade-marked grins, "your Dad was always the one to explain this stuff. I never had the patience for space-altering techniques myself. Besides the margin for error was way too small, One accident and I probably would have erased half the village by mistake with the Kyuubi's power at my disposal. Anyway this item, it takes you to a different place far from the Elemental Countries. And now is the time for you to use it as he always intended you to."
I gawked at her unable to comprehend what she was saying! How could I leave now, my village, my friends, my precious people! War had just been declared and I was without a doubt currently the strongest ninja my village had to field in the battle against Madara and his plans for world domination.
"Mum!" I croaked, my sapphire eyes wide with shock and my throat suddenly very dry. My stomach began to tumble uncomfortably and I resisted the urge to throw up as a wave of nausea hit me. Before my eyes, even as she was fading away into nothingness, my mother's hands were blurring, twisting into complex handseals so fast it was all my eyes could do to distinguish what they were.
Desperate now I tried to launch myself at her, to make her stop but my feet were rooted to the ground. I felt my energy draining away.
"No!", I cried "I can't leave! Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei! Yamato-sensei! Sai! Obachan! They need me! Konoha needs me!" I felt my breath leave my lungs like I had been socked in the gut and realised as my mother's arms wrapped themselves around me one last time that it was too late.
The warmth in her hug left me speechless and I could feel her salty tears on my neck as she wept uncontrollably. Her voice was echoing as if from a distance as she sobbed and I knew then that whatever she had done, she had done for the best. There was no need for words. The last thing I heard before she faded completely and the world turned white was:
"Don't worry. It will be as if you never left."
The ambulance pelted through the crowded highway, cars moving aside for it as it approached. Himiko stared through the rain that was smacking itself against her windshield and let loose a gasp of relief as the neon sign of the local hospital came into view at the next exit. She risked a quick glance backwards to check on Yoshiro and Maki, her paramedics and their charge. The blond haired boy, looked worse for wear, his orange and black tracksuit torn and grimy. The girl who had found him sat beside him, drenched from standing in the rain as she applied basic first aid, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The boy seemed stable now but the bruises they had discovered on his body indicated that he might have been involved in some kind of gang related incident. Surely that headband of his was a gang symbol if ever she saw one. Maybe he come from a good family and was too young to get a tattoo and had compromised somehow with his boss. The girl, a student at the local high school had been on her way home when she found him and had wanted to stay with him till they got to hospital. Apparently her mother was a doctor there so it was no real inconvenience.
Upon their arrival the boy was rushed into the accident and emergency ward and the girl went with him. Himiko had taken her aside before she did so however and thanked her for her help. Not many students would have been able to keep as cool a head in a crised, she told her, and her dedication to her patient was a credit to both her and her mother. The girl had smiled shyly at the compliment, bowed respectfully and had ducked after her charge. Himiko smiled.
"You're going to make one heck of a doctor someday Miss Mizuno", she said, to no-one in particular.
The radio blared with another request for aide and Himiko sighed, entering her vehicle swiftly. With a nod to her colleages as they too clambered in, the ambulance took to the road again, off into the night. Little did they know that they had changed the shape of things to come in so many interesting ways.