Temporal Distortion

by Phantom Drache

Chapter 1: Source

- Temporal Distortion -

Konoha, Day of the Kyuubi Attack, Night.

A man and a woman are standing in a field. The man is tall, blonde with hair that reaches his shoulders, and is wearing a long white robe with red flames on the edges. Under this robe is a green vest, unzipped and revealing a black shirt underneath, with a pair of blue pants. On his forehead lies a headband with a metal plate resting in the center, with a stylized leaf engraved upon it. On his right hip is a black pouch, resting on white bandages on the outside of the mans pants. Finishing his look is a pair of black open toed shoes. This is Minato Namikaze. Fourth Hokage.

The woman is a red-head, with her hair reaching down to her waist, and dressed in a high-collared sleeveless white blouse underneath a loose, green dress. She also wears open toed shoes, though hers are grey instead of black. This is Kushina Uzumaki. As is kept secret, only told to a few, very select people, she is the wife of Minato Namikaze, as well as the container - or Jinchuriki - of the Nine-tailed Fox, more colloquially known as simply the Kyuubi.

Speaking of the Kyuubi. As opposed to residing in the odd pocket-dimension slash mindscape within Kushina - as he is supposed to be doing thanks to the seal placed on her when she inherited the position of his Jinchuriki from one Mito Uzumaki - he is instead currently standing in the field alongside Minato and Kushina. Only, instead of being in a position to chat with, and perhaps begrudgingly enjoy the company of these two, the Kyuubi is instead currently suffering what is known as having a really shitty day.

You see, as of a mere 12 hours ago, the Kyuubi was sitting in his seal, as he had done for many a year now, the only difference between today and any other day being that he had the knowledge that here soon his current host, Kushina, was going to be giving birth, thus leaving the seal in a weakened state temporarily.

Now, normally, the Kyuubi wouldn't particularly care about all this. Sure, he wanted freedom with damn near every fiber of his body, but he was far from stupid. His host was going to be giving birth on the edge of her home, Konoha. A Ninja village renowned for being one of the five strongest in the world, and perhaps even the strongest of those five.

While he could easily destroy the village if he was at full power, the process of removing himself from the seal, even in its weakened state, would severely drain him. Perhaps even to the point that the annoying human village would actually pose a threat to him. The Kyuubi honestly found the probability of this very slim, but he could not deny the fact that it was still a possibility, and one did not live to be as old as the Kyuubi currently is by taking unnecessary risks.

And so, on any other day, the Kyuubi would simply rest in his seal on this day. Perhaps send a surge of his chakra through his host, just to annoy her, but that would be it. Unfortunately, the choice was taken out of his hands...er, paws? Regardless of the nuances of his anatomy, the fact remains that one moment the Kyuubi was trying its hardest to drown out the mental screaming of a woman in the middle of giving birth and the next he was being pulled.

Blinking in surprise, the Kyuubi was shocked to find that he had been forcibly removed from the seal that contained him. This was not what he was expecting. Further investigation was interrupted by one of the annoying ants that called itself humanity made itself known to the Kyuubi. He mostly ignored the ramblings of the clearly insane person - a sane person does not simply demand that any bijuu, let alone the strongest of the nine, give it attention after all - but something unusual happened.

Looking in the humans eyes, ready to either kill the human or simply maul it to the point it understands its folly and runs off like the bug it is, the Kyuubi feels an unpleasantly familiar sensation. A sensation it has only felt the once before, when a particularly annoying bug by the name of Madara had somehow used his families accursed eyes to take control of the Kyuubi.

Needless to say, when the Kyuubi finally regained consciousness hours later, he was not pleased. He was confused, in a mild amount of pain, and currently had one of his claws impaling the figures of his host and her mate.

Yep. Minato and Kushina were currently standing with one of the Kyuubi's meter or so long claws impaling the two of them, Kushina standing in front of Minato, with her back to his chest. They were standing right in front of an odd altar sort of thing, with symbols drawn both around and into a stone table.

Lying on top of said altar-table-thing is a small bundle of cloth. Inside said cloth, with the very tip of the Kyuubi's claw mere centimeters away from its forehead, dripping the blood of Minato and Kushina onto it, is a baby. Newborn, given the size of it. Well fuck.

The two adults, who by all rights are currently only alive through sheer force of will, are speaking to the newborn. They say soothing things to calm it down from the fit which was about to start. They ask it to hold promises that it likely doesn't even have the mental capacity to understand yet, let alone remember or respond. The Kyuubi watches all of this.

It's only when the man, Minato, turns back to the Kyuubi and speaks, does the Kyuubi understand what is about to happen. The man apologizes to the Kyuubi, telling him that what he's about to do is the only option. The Kyuubi doesn't respond.

In another world, in another time, the Kyuubi might rage at the thought of being caged once more, so soon after being freed even if it wasn't how he planned on escaping. In another universe, the Kyuubi might spend the next decade and a half stubbornly sitting in his seal, steadfastly ignoring his new host and its problems in the hope that one day it would succumb to despair and agree to free the Kyuubi, and once more he would wreak havoc on this planet.

This is not that universe, and is only so for one reason and one reason alone. In the last several years that the Kyuubi has been sealed - first in Mito, and then within Kushina - it had slowly come to understand something. Humans, as weak and insignificant in the grand scheme they may be, are incredibly interesting creatures.

Some lie. Some steal. Some hurt people for no other reason than because they can. But some show compassion. Some of them help others for no other reason than some convoluted belief that 'it's the right thing to do', whatever that means. Morality is an odd concept, created by humans about humans for humans.

That coupled with the fact that they live incredibly short lives, crammed full of action and adventure as if they're trying to live three lives in the span of one, make them very curious creatures indeed. At least, that's what the Kyuubi says to himself in his head, rationalizing his feelings. It's not like he's actually grown fond of the things. They're annoying, fickle, and taste horrible what with all that random plant matter and artificial stuff they cover themselves with. Yes, he's merely bored after living long enough to have seen every inch of this world.

And that's why, in this universe, instead of raging and fighting, the Kyuubi simply lets himself be sealed away into his new host. He'll be keeping an eye on this one, using it for his entertainment.

And thus, a single difference occurs in what should be. A single ripple in time that may very well become a tsunami of change in how the future should have turned out. All because of a single difference in thought.

The Kyuubi is of course oblivious to the change his actions have caused. He simply doesn't know. He doesn't know that since he doesn't fight, the entirety of his chakra is sealed into the babe, rather than being split in half. He doesn't know that by taking an active interest in his hosts life he'll change it forever in ways nobody had dreamed of. He doesn't know what side-effects of holding the entirety of a biju's chakra from birth might have on the same babe who had been exposed to minute amounts of his chakra since conception.

He doesn't know that this one difference in how he should be thinking will cause the life of the child blessed by the fates to be far different than what his destiny should have been.

After all, he's just a little curious. What could possibly go wrong with a little curiosity? It's not like he doesn't have an eternity to simply forget whatever events may occur in the mere blink of an eye that these creatures named Humans live.

Several years from now, the one known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune will look back on this day, and simultaneously curse and bless the day that his curiosity got the better of him. After all, there's nobody more interesting, yet also more frustrating, than the one they call Naruto Uzumaki.

Konoha, 6 years later, Christmas eve, about 4 in the evening.

A young boy was walking down an empty snow-covered dirt street. The boy was wearing a white shirt with an orange spiral on the front, and dark blue shorts paired with light blue shoes. This is Naruto Uzumaki, age 6.

'Tch. Why did she toss me out? It's the same every time something goes wrong. I get in trouble even though I didn't do anything.' What Naruto is talking about, is the fact that - just an hour prior - the old lady in charge of the orphanage Naruto lives at had tossed him out. Literally, seeing as she had picked him up by the shirt and thrown him into the snow outside.

Naruto hadn't known why she was so mad at him, only catching what she yelled at him when she threw him out. 'It's all your fault, damn demon! Why don't you just leave all us good folk alone!'

What Naruto didn't - couldn't - know, was that the lady had actually been stealing funds from the orphanage for years, to the point the Hokage - the leader of the village - had noticed and had a few ninjas secretly investigate the matter.

When they inevitably found out the truth, she had been brought before the Hokage himself. Pleading for mercy, she had been granted a week to settle things at the orphanage before she was taken into jail. Of course, the first thing she had seen walking back into the orphanage had been young Naruto.

While she had tried to see him as just a child, she had lost too much during the attack 6 years ago. Her son a ninja who had died fighting the fox, her husband crushed by debris, and several friends for similar reasons. And so, she hated him. She tried to hide it, to be neutral towards him, but her hatred still made it's mark.

He had simply been reading a book, as none of the other kids had wanted to play with him due to the old lady's dislike of him, choosing instead to play outside in the falling snow. He didn't often read, seeing as he was usually too hyper to sit long, but he had little else to do today. Especially seeing as the care-taker had never seen fit to give him a winter coat. Or a coat at all now that he thought about it.

Anyways, one moment, he's just reading a story book about the first Hokage, and the next, the old lady had picked him up, screaming, and tossed him out, telling him to never come back.

So now here he was, walking down the streets all alone. No home, no money, and nowhere to go. There's also the fact that the streets are mostly empty, despite it being early afternoon. Everyone was too busy setting up their Christmas dinner, and putting the final touches on their trees. He couldn't even walk up to a random door and ask for help, seeing as the only person he'd ever talked to that didn't hate him was that old man who showed up once every month or so. At least, that's how Naruto knew Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage.

Hiruzen had retired to give his position of Hokage to Minato several years ago, only to have to take up the job once more upon Minato's death 6 years ago. Hiruzen of course knew the truth of who Naruto was, but for reasons only known to him, he never told Naruto the truth of his parents, merely stating that they were ninjas who had died fighting the Kyuubi. Technically true, but far from the entire truth.

Now, back to young Naruto. He had decided that instead of waiting around in front of the orphanage, he would just leave like the old lady had told him to do. This wasn't because he actually cared about what she wanted or particularly wanted to go walking in the snow, he just didn't want to be around her or that place anymore.

So, walking aimlessly, Naruto was struck with a conundrum. He had no food, and no place to sleep tonight. What to do in this scenario? Of course, being only 6 years old, Naruto has a very low ability when it come sto problem solving. Thankfully for him, he had someone else available to do the thinking for him.

'Hmm, so the hag threw him out, huh? This could be troublesome, especially since the old monkey just visited last week and thus isn't likely to even notice for some time.' The Kyuubi, resting in Naruto's mindscape, was less than pleased. He had been carefully watching Naruto over the last 6 years, observing his childhood. Originally, the Kyuubi had assumed that as the son of the fourth hokage, people would shower Naruto with praise.

Of course, humans being the trash that they are, immediately turned against the kit. Of course, the old monkeys choice to withhold the kits heritage didn't help any. now, how could he manage to help make sure his host doesn't die of starvation or hypothermia before he even reaches puberty?

'Perhaps it's time for me to take a more...direct role in this.' And with that, the Kyuubi strains his mental energy, reaching out through the tenuous mental connection between him and his host. He couldn't do anything like directly take over control, but he could talk to Naruto, and do more subtle things.

Such as directing Naruto to subconsciously move his legs in a certain direction while he's distracted. Navigating Naruto into an alley, with nobody around to interrupt, he stops his careful control of Naruto's muscles, and hesitantly opens up the path for communication for the first time.

"Kit." Immediately, whatever Naruto was thinking about - a series of pranks he was going to play on that old lady once he got the chance, for those curious - was interrupted by a voice he didn't recognise, even if it did feel somehow familiar. Spinning around, he saw nobody, and called out.

"W-Who's there! Come out!" Inwardly, the fox palms his face at Naruto's action, even if he does have to grudgingly admit that he should have expected that.

"Stop shouting. You're not going to find me." Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect from calming naruto down.

"G-G-G-GHOST!" NAruto proceeds to scream his head off and run in circles. The Kyuubi is happy he led the boy away from the main streets, or else they would certainly have noticed his screaming, even if they were in their homes.

"Calm down. I'm not a ghost. I'm just a voice in your head." Yeah. Because that's so much better. The Kyuubi is about to speak again, when somehow, that actually works and Naruto calms down, ceasing his irritating yelling.

"A voice in my head? Like, my con-con-conscientious?" Naruto stumbles over the large word, not having used many words in the last 6 years that are longer than two syllables.

"You mean conscious, and no i'm not your conscious. I'm... well, let's just say that i'm a friend." No need to make the boy any more panicked by telling him the demon that destroyed half the village six years ago is in his head. That's a conversation for later, when the boy trusts him more. And preferably isn't as much of an idiot.

"Oh, really?! I don't have many friends, and i've never had a friend that's indivisible before!" Sighing inside the seal, the Kyuubi can already feel the headache starting to come on.

"You mean invisible. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh? What about, -in-my-head?"

'Oh god, I should have just let that yellow bastard kill me. It'd have been fine, just wait for my body to reform after a decade or so, and forget anything ever happened.'

" *Ahem* Well, as you might have noticed, we kind of have a problem. Namely, the fact that you no longer have a place to live, or any money to get food to eat." That makes Naruto's smile disappear, as he remembers why he's out and about in the first place.

"Yeah. That mean old lady just tossed me out. This is kind of bad, isn't it, Mr. Voice?" Kurama can't help but snort at the kits blunt statement.

"Bad is putting it lightly. If we aren't careful, you might not make it a full week like this. Thankfully for you, I have a plan." Narutos bad mood disappears as fast as it came on, his smile lighting up the alley.

"Really?! What's your plan?" In the seal, Kurama smiles. It's been far easier gaining the kids trust than he expected. The poor kit is so starved for attention that he's willing to latch onto an invisible voice claiming to be inside his head. while not a good thing in general, it certainly helps the fox in this scenario.

"Alright, I want you to listen closely to me now. You know that big forest with the fence and the tall trees? On the edge of the village?" Kurama is of course, referencing training ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death. Of course, Naruto just knows it as 'that one place with a bunch of trees inside the village that ninjas tend to avoid'. Naruto nods his understanding, causing the Kyuubi to chuckle.

"Well, I want you to go there. Last time I checked there was a ton of plants and animals in there. I'm going to teach you how to hunt and forage for food."

"Okay, Mr. Voice! That sounds awesome!" And with that, Naruto starts to run in the general direction he thinks that the forest of death is.

"Stop calling me that. It's stupid and makes you sound like you're insane." At his soft but stern rebuke, Naruto pouts a bit before putting a hand on his chin.

"Well what should I call you, Mr. Voice?"

"Call me...Kurama." Normally, the Kyuubi would never think of giving a human his real name, but something about Naruto makes him think that maybe, just this one time, he could risk being a little more forthcoming. Perhaps it's his determination, which even at the tender age of 6 is still leagues above what the average human could bring to bare. Perhaps it's his way of apologising for being the cause for all of the kits suffering, even if the older of the two hadn't meant for this to happen, and the younger had no idea about any of this.

Nah, it's probably just because the whisker marks on the kit make it look kind of like a fox. Yeah, that's the only reason why. Or at least, that's what Kurama stubbornly states in his own head, not sure why he's being so adamant about affirming that to himself.

Now, normally the Kyuubi would prefer if Naruto could manage to leave the village, as the surrounding forests would be more plentiful in terms of food, as well as have a much lower risk of someone stumbling upon them. However, the Kyuubi has no idea how the defences might have been changed since the last time Kushina checked on them, which was a few years before the night of the...incident.

Thus, he has to deal with Naruto hurriedly running off towards the forest of death, chatting a mile a minute. Thankfully, Kurama tells Naruto that he can communicate with him by thinking, saving them from someone questioning why Naruto was talking at nothing. That would have been embarrassing.

Now, unknown to Naruto or even Kurama, if they had simply waited at the orphanage for another hour, this story would have gone completely differently. You see, when the Hokage gave the order for the orphanage caretaker to go back and settle things, he planned to head over and pick up Naruto. His plan was to ask young Naruto if he wanted to become a ninja, and when he inevitably got a yes, he would set up the boy with his own apartment, separating him from someone he could tell hated the young boy. Plus it would have been a great Christmas gift.

So it's to his great surprise and consternation when, after taking some time to finish up some last minute paperwork that he swears didn't exist a mere half-hour ago, he arrived at the orphanage to find Naruto gone. Needless to say, the lady was immediately taken to jail with her sentence increased when it was revealed she had kicked Naruto out.

Of course, given the sheer scope of the village hidden in the leaves, finding a single child who doesn't even know how to access his chakra yet is nigh-impossible. To make matters even worse, several Jonin and Genin were currently out of the village, partaking in the chunin exams being held by Kumogakure, and wouldn't be back for over a month. That doesn't stop Hiruzen from giving an order that the first ninja to find Naruto is to bring the lad to him immediately. He also stresses that Naruto must be unharmed in his retrieval or else he would have...words, with the ninja who harmed him.

Sadly for Hiruzen, it would be years before anyone caught hide or hair of one Naruto Uzumaki. And when they did, they would find a changed boy. Sitting in his office, Hiruzen could only hold one thought outside of general worry for his grandson that's not his grandson.

'Kakashi and Jiraiya are gonna be so pissed.'

- Temporal Distortion -