回想記の夢 ・ A Memoir of a Dream ※

by: Fehize

[x]

Soft was the wind that blew through the large trees. Tall and majestic, they rose all around the perimeter of a large and powerful golden wall. Some of them were even inside the large expanse of architecture, giving forth shade that pleases whomever rests underneath. The gentle, southern wind caressed these large expanses of nature's might, making some of the bright, emerald leaves swayed from their respective branches before resting peacefully upon the ground.

A movement of someone stirred some of the leaves on the dirt. After a few moments, one could see the hair of the bright sun heading off towards a certain red tower in the distance. A green vest, filled with all of the necessary equipment for anything a ninja needed, was easily noted as well. Dark blue, almost black, pants were on, as well as a lighter green undershirt that had golden ties around the elbow and wrist area. To the world, he was beginning to rise up in the ranks of one of the most legendary ninjas around. 'Beginning to', the main key words. Most of the surrounding areas have yet to learn of who he was, but to some of the citizens of this Village in the Leaves, he was almost like a yellow flash... Perhaps that was why people were becoming to associate him by this name?

Yawning slightly, stretching his arms high in the air, the sun-kissed haired man blinked for a few moments before reaching a door with the kanji symbol of fire (?) on it. Some men were already there, acting as guards from any possible attacks. They were also the ones to talk to if one was ever bored with life. "Hey guys," began the man. With a smile that seemed normal on his face, he took some steps inside the red painted building. "I'm going to look through the Genin materials really quick, to figure out the identity of Mr. Mysterious." This man had already told them the odd tale of the small 'child' that his team had discovered outside the walls.

The one on the left nodded, yawning a bit as well. "Minato, that yawn of yours is contagious." With a simple wave, the two guards stepped aside and allowed the man to enter. "The records are in the back, and the Hokage already allowed you some permission."

Minato nodded as his hair on the side of his ear moved down with his head. "Alright, thanks!" Continuing down his path, he eventually made his way towards a dimly lit room filled with many scrolls. Plopping himself over towards one of the walls, he began to search for the proper years. Hmmm...Naruto Uzumamein...He looks about fifteen or so...That would mean that I have about five years of Genin searching. Shouldn't be that hard...

[x]

ARGGGGGGG! came the cry from inside Minato's head as his hands went up towards his hair, trying to pull it away. He has been in this small, stuffy room for HOURS and had yet to discover anything about a child/teenager/person called Naruto Uzumamein. Since he couldn't find the full name, he tried under the list of 'Uzemamein', coming only with nothing. There was some brief noted of an 'Uzumaki' from the Land of the Whirls, but that was far away and had nothing to do with the current situation. Then, he tried searching under 'Naruto', coming up with only the name of the topping used for a certain type of ramen.

Slamming his head on the table, he moaned slightly. "This is harder than I thought..." Lifting himself back up, he regained his calm composition. It wasn't everyday that he acted like a child, but in certain moments like this, it was rather necessary to vent a little. Despite all of his planning and thinking, however, no face came up with something remotely similar towards the strange teenager.

Except his face, but that was also irrelevant.

How does a kid like this magically appear? There is no records of a missing team of either Genin, Cuunin, or Jounin, and no records of a missing blonde haired child either. And since he was knocked unconsciousness, his appearance has nothing to do with a Henge jutsu... There is the Konoha forehead protector upon his head, but with no dead or missing team members lately, he couldn't have just picked it up from a...corpse.

The mind of Minato Namikaze was going at a massive speed, thinking about who this child was and what was going on. After yet another few hours, the passing of the sun made him realize that it was already late in the evening. By the time that he left the Hokage Tower, the whole area was almost draped in darkness with the lights of the lamps showing the way. I wonder what I am going to have for dinner, he mused. His old sensei, and still sometimes still his sensei, kept on muttering that he needed a certain 'someone' to cook and take care of him. In general, settle him down.

He wondered if Jiraiya meant something else behind those words.

[x]

Naruto blinked at the ceiling, looking at the patterns created by the plaster that formed the base of support. Today, there was a little frog running around. It was very deformed for the fact that the little plaster pieces didn't make for the perfect figures of little froggies, but imagination was all that the forms needed. Still, it was a waste of the day. All of the doctors seemed to care for him more than normal, but he was still pondering over what was going on to really notice.

Once the Yondai - er...Minato - left, things were rather boring around the hospital. He spent most of the day thinking about what had happened, and he still was. Hmm...I wonder what happened. Let's see, I remember the black cloaks...

His eyes widened up like saucers and he threw his body up from the bed into a sitting position. The thoughts of black cloaks could only mean one thing: he had been caught by the Akatsuki. He had to be, mainly for the fact that they were the only ones he knew that worse such black cloaks. He could faintly remember the faint blur of a color in the center, and that further concreted his ideas. Or at least, as concrete as he could get them right now. He defiantly wasn't in the cave where...THEY did whatever they did to remove the demons from within their hosts. In fact, if he could swear on his forehead protector, he would on the vow that he was in the past.

Which made him giggle slightly at that motion before getting more serious. SUREEEE, he was in the past. This could be a highly specialized genjutsu, probably made by Itachi... No, I didn't see anyone's eyes. Placing his hand on his chin, he began to ponder more, moving his normal smile into a thinking 'frown'. Bah, I think I'll have to think about it later. First I have to assess what I DO know:

Well, apparently Yo-Minato is alive. Which means...DANG! This place, wherever it is, WHATever it is, is before I was born! That caused him to rub his head even more. This whole thought process was enough to make him crazy. On top of that, what was he supposed to call the blond haired man? Minato-san? Minato-sama? Minato-DONO! Minato-

That was when the door towards his own room swung open and the figure of - who else? - Minato waltzed in. His green jounin vest seemed to be a stark contrast against his bright hair, but the expression seemed filled with so many emotions that it was hard to place one with words. He smiled and waved, nodding a bit. "Hey, Naruto. Just came by for a visit and to ask you some questions, if that is alright."

Naruto blinked for a few moments before nodding a little bit. "Umm...Sure, I guess. I mean, I got a couple of questions as well," he added with a little nod. He needed to know some things, oh yeah, he really needed to know some certain things.

Minato plopped his body down next towards the edge of the bed, looking at the whisker-marked face. "So...let's begin. Where did you come from?"

"Konoha," Naruto with a little nod.

"And, how old are you?"

"Fifteen last time I checked," he added with a little smile.

The adult nodded a bit, trying to settle the mood by a fraction as there still was that air of difference between the two blond ninjas. "Fifteen, I guess that is a good number. I remember being fifteen." With another smile, he decided to continue with his conversation. Naruto didn't really mind a whole lot because it didn't seem like he was getting in trouble. That, and he was pretty sure the Yondai-Minato wasn't from the interrogation section of Konoha's shinobi. "Alright, Naruto, how about your clan name?"

That question made him think and ponder for a moment. He was still stuck in this whole 'where-am-I' bit, but it reminded him that he had to be careful over what he said. "Well, see, that's the trouble. I'm an orphan and I don't know my parents. I kinda gave myself the name 'Uzumamein' just to have a last name here." That was the TRUTH! He was an orphan, and he did give himself the name Uzumamein for THIS place. It just wasn't the entire truth. Some truth wasn't as bad as lying, at least.

"Oh..." came the little mutter from Minato. His cerulean eyes seemed to get filmed with some sadness, as if he did something horrible with just asking that question.

Noticing this, the teenager waved his hands back and forth, giving his own, bright smile forth. "Nee, hey! It's alright, Minato-san!" He decided maybe 'san' was the better word here. It's true that he is/will be/who-knows the Yondaime - that is, IF he was in the past. And even if he wasn't and this was a genjutsu, he still would be the Yondaime - in the future, but that little tang of slight bitterness of this man sealing up the Kyuubi within him prevented 'sama'.

On the other hand, it sure did beat using the phrase 'jiji'.

Continuing his words, the teenager added: "It's alright! It happened long ago, and I'm over with it." With a little hand, he pumped it in the air. "After all, if I can't deal with that, how am I supposed to become the future Hokage!" These words always made sense to him, and he sure did love yelling them out. He might have matured over the years, but that phrase will never tire him out. Or rather, something akin to that phrase.

What surprised him a bit was that Minato smiled back, with a little nod. "With your endless energy, I'm sure you can, kid. But," he added with a wink, "you'll have to beat me to it, first. I plan to be the Hokage as well!"

Thus the night began with the laughter of two males who were closer to each other than they would think.

[x]

The next day passed with relative nothingness. The nurses paced back and forth, and some of them even wanted to talk to Naruto himself. It was short conversations, nothing much, but at least it was something nice enough to take his mind away from the boredom.

It was late afternoon, and he had already dropped the thought process of trying to figure out where he was. It was beginning to hurt too much. With a yawn and a sigh, he decided now was a great time to get his body up and out of this place. The hospital was no longer needed as he knew that all of his cuts and injuries were already healed up thanks to the fuzz-ball. Rubbing his tummy, he jumped up. His clothing were still the same, it seemed, and he knew they needed to be washed and whatnot. His nose could pick them up by just stench! Some stealth this would end up as... he mocked himself in his head before looking around for something to wear for the moment.

In the closet were some black shorts with some white shirts hanging from the rack, all nice and recently pressed. Some of them seemed a tad bit too big on him, and the others seemed only slightly too small. With a sigh, he threw the ones that were someone in between the two sizes. It wasn't exactly such a perfect fit, but it was rather close. He only wished they had at least SOME orange in them. Slapping on his zori, he looked at himself in a mirror.

Well, there goes the Akatsuki idea out of my head, he thought as he poked the six whisker marks on his face. He was pretty sure that even if those freaks would do a genjitsu on this level, saying if they managed to catch him in the eyes, it wouldn't be with him and his possession marks. ARG! Drop the subject, already! he scolded himself. Get out of the evil hospital first!

Slowly opening the sliding, almost pale green door, he arched his blond head out to face the hallway. He wanted to make sure there were no nurses there checking on him, otherwise...

The coast was very much so clear. No one was there among the halls, but then again, the last time he remembered being in a hospital, there wasn't much once he was out of the critical status areas. His foot reflected off the laminated and recently polished tile flooring as he slowly walked forwards towards the back exit. There was a fence back there, but he was pretty sure that he could jump over it. Or walk over it, whichever seemed better.

Finally reaching the back entrance, he placed his hand over the little latch and slid the glass panes open, very silently. Tip-toeing across the grass, he made sure to hide in the shadows as it still was daytime. Late afternoon still meant there were at least four more hours of sunlight, and he didn't want to get caught right there in the hospital yard! (What type of ninja would he be then?)

The walls of the hospital were right in front of him, and with a little smirk, he threw himself over the top and landed safely on the other side. On one hand, he had a bag filled with the items be brought with him to begin with, and around his neck was his necklace that Baa-chan gave him. Yup! That was everything! Now, it was time to get a late lunch and scout the area. The layout certainly looked a bit like Konoha, but Naruto knew that his Konoha was different.

With each little step, he searched each little nook and cranny. By the time night fell, he knew where everything was, more or less. The hot springs were still where they were, there was still the stadium where the Chuunin Exams would be held; hell, even his apartment was still in the same spot! However, the blond had to agree that it looked a bit better in this place/time.

Man, I'm getting hungry! I wonder if Ichiraku is here, wherever this place is. Sure, I can accept the fact I am here, but that doesn't make it any better over how freaked out I am. The only good part about these past two days of waiting in the white, sterile room? Thinking time to figure out where he was.

[x]

"Sensei...why is it that we always come here? You know that ramen is never good for you! It has way too much salt! With the amount of sodium intake you get, you can die within a year; pale and as hideous as a corpse!"

A set a brightly paired blue eyes chuckled for a mere moment as two light brown chop-sticks pointed towards a certain little trainee called Rin. "Now, now. I happen to have a very good regimen for combating excess sodium, so I can allow myself to gorge a little here and there." To finish it off, the sixth bowl of ramen was placed right on top of the others.

A silver haired boy with a dark blue mask gave a blank stare towards the taller man. "And what, may I ask, is this so-called 'regimen'?"

A twinkle sparkled in Minato's eyes. "Why, it's taking care of you three!"

The three teammates groaned for a little bit, but then stopped. It was their sensei's normal attitude, and they were used to it. After all, Minato was a clam, collected person. Quick to smile, he was the type of person who made anyone who saw him wish to be on the receiving end of it.

It was then that another presence arrived next towards the group of four. Minato stopped slurping for a moment and turned his head. Within a matter of moments, his face signified happiness. "Hello, Naruto! What brings you here? I heard that you had a little escape art from the hospital earlier, and the nurses were beginning to worry." His eyes opened once again, and his body language gestured the young teen to enter the booth seat next to the group.

The adult man noticed that Naruto seemed pleased with that, and the white shirt, black shorted teen plopped down on the seat. "Oh, yes, here are my introductions. You already know that my name is Minato Namikaze, but here is my little Team Seven group!"

"Team Seven?" blinked the smaller teen as his blue eyes blinked back. "Whoah..." Minato thought there was something thinking along the kid's head, but a smile soon replaced the whiskered features. The blond head turned to face the owner of the store, and Naruto barked out the order of miso ramen.

Kakashi placed his hands on the wooden mock of a table top and took a glance at the raven, black-haired Obito. "Dobe, pass some chopsticks."

"DOPE!" cried out the Uchiha. "Oh yeah, Kakashi-teme!"

Minato placed his hands between them both. With a small, collective sigh, he shook his head. "Now, guys...It's not exactly the nicest things to say to each other."

But on the corner of his eye, Minato noticed that Naruto seemed to have a face of déjà vu. Weird...

[x]

Review wo Ku-Da-Sa-IIIIIIII! -smiles-