Chapter 2: Reborn
Disclaimer: I don't own shit. In fact, I'm in the hospital, so I don't even own myself. Happy?
You are?
Great, that makes my day.
Sorry guys, I would've had this chapter out four days ago, back-to-back chapters like I did for Blade of Emptiness, Maelstrom of Honor, but I ran into a dilemma. So now, I'm currently in the hospital with an IV shoved up my arm and an eye that looks like it came out of a fight with Kenchi618 (check his profile, he beat a state-ranked wrestler blindfolded). It's apparently Shingles, which I thought only old people got, but I'm just really unlucky. So sorry for the delay, hope you can forgive me. If you can't, well then fuck you, you're a heartless bastard. Oh the things I do for you people.
Review Responses? Nah, I'll PM you if I haven't already if you've asked questions or gave suggestions. If there's a guest response, I'll do it next chapter, I'm sick, I don't care right now. Plus, I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible.
This is a rather peaceful chapter, setting up the mood. You'll see who goes to Fiore, though by now its pretty obvious. Enjoy!
Uzumaki Naruto awoke to find himself floating in nothingness. There was nothing around him except for white and more white. He rubbed his eyes vigorously as to dispel any hallucinations he may have been seeing because of his fatigue. Nope, it was still there. Nothing, that is. He flapped his arms back and forth like some demented bird, but he couldn't tell whether or not he was moving because of the uniformity of his surroundings.
Wait, what was that?
In front of him, deep in the distance, shone a soft, golden light. It was inviting and unconsciously, the blonde began to float towards it. That is of course, until he realized that the light was getting closer and closer.
"Oh hell no. I'm not going into the light. Ero-sennin always told me to stay away from it if I saw it during training, and I'm not about to move toward it now." He backpedalled furiously away from the oncoming light. He was Uzumaki Naruto, he wasn't going to go out like this. He turned around and scrabbled away as fast as he could. Until he tripped over a body.
"Sasuke!" he yelled in surprise. The Uchiha was lying horizontally on the air, looking completely at ease, as if asleep. There were no marks or wounds on his person, like he hadn't just come out of a life-threatening battle with a madman. Come to think of it, his own orange and black jacket was completely restored, without the various cuts and gashes in it. How curious.
The Uchiha groaned and attempted to push himself up, not realizing there were floating on thin air and flipped around with a yelp. Naruto let out a chuckle and stopped his erratic spins. "Naruto?" Sasuke asked uncertainly.
"The one and only!" he declared, thumping a fist against his chest proudly. The Uchiha stared at the blond for a moment before smashing his fist against Naruto's cheek. The Uzumaki floated backwards a few paces and his hands flew up to clutch the injury. He stared at the Uchiha in disbelief. What had brought that on?
"Oi, teme, what the hell?" Naruto said, backpedalling furiously in the other direction, away from the steadily approaching Uchiha with a dangerous gleam in his obsidian eyes. "What'd I do?"
Sasuke cracked his knuckles menacingly, completely out of tune with his stoic character, and growled, "You have the nerve to ask? I freaking sacrificed myself so that you could live and you go ahead and die?" The Uchiha messed up his hair in frustration, making his "duck butt" point up even further. "Nothing ever goes as planned with you!" he accused. "Why do you have to be so.. so... so freaking unpredictable!"
Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, it was a habitual response to whenever he was embarrassed. "Ah... well, you see..."
Said blond never got to finish his sentence when his vision began to turn yellow. He whirled around to find the golden light right in front of him. It was too late to turn back, and there was no escape, seeing how there weren't any sort of foothold or handhold to push off of. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as the blond's body seemed to melt into the source of light, and he quickly floated forward to grasp the quickly disappearing Naruto.
"God damnit, Sasuke! You just had to distract me!" the blond yelled. "I swear, if I die, I'll haunt you forev- mmrph!" The head of the blond completely melting into the golden light, which the Uchiha could see was a portal of some sort, leaving only a writhing hand moving back and forth erratically.
'But... you're already dead...' the Uchiha thought with a sigh and a shake of his head at his best friend's stupidity. He watched as even Naruto's hand was enveloped by the light, leaving only him. And then there was one.
Sasuke sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. Why him? It was a miracle that Naruto managed to survive for this long without him, and the blond failed to do even that in the end. "Sigh, I might as well follow him." Sasuke moved towards the soft orb of light and watched with curiosity as his hand seemed to disperse and be absorbed . 'Intriguing.'
And then there were none.
0o0o0
"Naruto? Naruto! Wake up!"
"Urgh." Naruto opened his eyes fractionally and shut them immediately when he was hit by a bright light. He cracked open one eye to see the two blurry figures. The one on the left had sun-kissed blond hair and tanned skin while the one on the right had exotically colored hair. Was that red, or pink? "Sakura-chan? Baa-chan?"
He saw the one of the right stiffen, in surprise or anger he didn't know, but he paid it no mind. It was anger.
"Who's an baa-chan?! I'm still in my thirties, 'dattebane!" A fist smashed onto Naruto's unsuspecting face, sending him careening away before he was caught by two firm arms.
"Now now, Kushina." The person who stopped him from flying away laughed in a reassuring manner. "I'm sure he didn't mean that, he probably mistook my blond hair for Tsunade-sama." the voice chuckled.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He knew those voices! The blond whirled around, breaking the man's grasp on him and promptly hugged him. "Dad?"
(Cue Music - Naruto - Thank You)
"Yeah, son. It's me." The fourth Hokage's eyes softened as his arms came up to embrace his son, softly caressing the boy's blond hair that was so similar to his own.
Suddenly, both the father and son stiffened when they felt an overwhelming amount of killing intent smothering them. Naruto slowly and fearfully turned around to find his mother glaring at the two of them, in all her righteous anger. Her crimson hair whipped around her lithe frame as if being blown around by some nonexistent wind and her eyes glowed with the promise of a painful death. "Naruto-chan?" she said sweetly, which caused both males in the family to wince, Naruto in fear and Minato in sympathy. "Why'd you hug your father before me?"
Naruto glanced up at his father, who gently pushed him towards his jealous mother. He took a hesitant step forward, fearing the Red-Hot Habanero's wrath (who wouldn't), but then threw caution to the winds and jumped into his mother's waiting arms. "Mom." He whispered, clutching her like she was his lifeline. "I've missed you."
"Yeah, I did too." Her bloodlust vanished and was replaced by motherly concern and love just as potent. She patted her son's back gently and stuck her tongue out at Minato, who chuckled lightly. "I'm proud of you, 'ttebane"
Naruto just clutched her harder, reluctant to let his mother go. It was only his second time seeing her in sixteen years, could you blame him?
"Hey now, let's go say hi to that friend of yours." Kushina said softly, pointing to where Sasuke was fidgeting nervously, uncomfortable with the amount of affection bouncing around.
Naruto raised his head out of his mother's embrace and looked in the direction that she was pointing. "Sasuke!"
Kushina's eyes lit up and she rushed over to the Uchiha's side, "Sasuke?" She poked and prodded the raven-haired boy and stretched his cheek like an over-enthusiastic aunt. "Mikoto-nee's baby boy? What a bishounen you are!" She stopped pulling on Sasuke's cheek to look over his shoulder, "Where's Mikoto-nee and little Ita-chibi?"
Naruto gave a little spit-take at Itachi's nickname and Sasuke gave a sad smile. "I don't know, Ms. Uzumaki. They didn't come." he said sadly. Behind him, golden light began to solidify and take the shape of three familiar silhouettes.
Minato stepped forward and placed a hand on the uncomfortable Uchiha. "Who's that behind you then?"
Sasuke whirled around and was met by a flick to the forehead. "Yuruse, Sasuke. Osokunatte gomen nasai (Forgive me, Sasuke. Sorry I'm late)."
Sasuke's wide eyes met Itachi's smiling eyes and he glomped his older sibling in a bear hug. "I'm sorry Itachi. Sorry for being so selfish. Sorry for not listening to you. Sorry for putting you through so much pain." Itachi smiled and patted Sasuke on the back gently while Fugaku and Mikoto encircled him and joined the hug.
"There's nothing to forgive Sasuke." Itachi said softly. "I did it to protect you, because I wanted to. That's what older brothers are for, right?"
There was a moment of silence as Sasuke drank in the love and compassion exuded by his brother and parents. How long had it been since he had felt this kind of happiness, this kind of solace? He leaned into his brother's hug, all insecurities lost in the loving embrace. "Yeah..."
"This is so touching! Group hug, 'ttebane!" Kushina cried, and promptly attacked Sasuke's mother, effectively breaking up the group hug instead of adding on to it. "Mikoto nee-san! It's been too long!"
"Kushina, you look as beautiful as ever."
The two ladies moved over, reminiscing and gossiping about older, happier times, lost in their own conversation. Minato simply shook Fugaku's hand and moved back toward his son's side, as did Fugaku. No words were necessary, their friendship was one of mutual respect. The two of them look over at their respective wives as Mikoto laughed at a joke that that Kushina had told. "Girls will be girls." Minato said with a shrug.
Fugaku let out a barking laugh. "Indeed."
Itachi detached himself from Sasuke side and moved in front of Naruto. Without warning, the Uchiha prodigy dropped to his knees in front of the young Uzumaki and bowed deeply, to the onlooker's surprise. Even Mikoto and Kushina halted their conversation in surprise at the elder Uchiha sibling prostrating himself in front of Naruto.
(Music - Naruto Movie 6 OST - Storm)
The position Itachi was in was called Dogeza. It was used to show deep apology, express a desire for a favor, or to show deep gratitude and thanks. The person would kneel directly on the floor and touch his head to the floor in a symbol of complete deference. The dogeza had an even higher meaning to the Shinobi, as their lives were full of betrayal and blood. To completely prostrate oneself in front of another and to drop all defenses was a method of saying that he or she would trust the person receiving the dogeza with their life. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the onlooker's eyes. It was used to show deference to the most highly- revered high-class person, such as a daimyo. It certainly wasn't normal to do so for a scruffy, blond teenager.
"Thank you." Itachi said simply. There was no need for more words, all of his meanings and intentions had been poured into those short two words. Thank you for taking care of my brother. Thank you for being friends with him. Thank you for leading him into the light. Thank you for everything.
"Er..." Naruto didn't know what to do. It was the first time anyone had done something of this magnitude to him, and he didn't know how to react. "Please stand, Itachi-san." he said, taking care to add the -san honorific to his name, something he almost never did. "I should be thanking you. If it wasn't for your guidance, Sasuke would still be a regular stick-up-the-ass Uchiha bent on revenge."
Itachi let out a short chuckle at that, it wasn't quite far from the truth. Fugaku stared at his son incredulously. His bright, happy son had turned out like that? Ignoring the stares sent at him, Sasuke sniffed in disdain and turned his head away from the conversation in front of him. 'Stick up the ass indeed! I wasn't that bad.'
Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and added, "And uh... Remember when we met that one time in during the mission to save Gaara?" Itachi nodded and cocked his head to the side in confusion. Seeing the perplexed expression on the elder Uchiha's face, Naruto found it hard to believe that this same person used to fill him with fear and anger. "Well, I'm sorry I said that I could've been a better brother than you. I didn't know all of the facts and -ow!"
Itachi stuck his hand out and jabbed his index and middle finger at Naruto's forehead, much like the way he used to do to Sasuke. Where was his Konoha headband when he needed it? The raven-haired Uchiha smiled and said, "No, you're right. Sasuke needs someone like you. You're like the sun and he's the shadow. Shadows need the sun's light to be born. I'm just another shadow, so I can't support him like you can."
"O-oh, ok." Naruto blushed in embarrassment and looked down at his feet, the perfect picture of Hinata, twiddled his fingers.
Kushina clapped her hands and slung an arm over Mikoto's shoulders, "Wow Ita-chibi! When did you get such a silver tongue? A shame you didn't have girlfriend, you could've made her happy."
Noticing the double meaning of what Naruto's mother said, It was Itachi's turn to blush, the normally cold and silent demeanor of the elder Uchiha shrunk into that of an embarrassed child. "K- K- Kushina kaa-san! It's not like that!"
"Ne, ne, see Mikoto? You just gotta press his buttons a bit. A few jokes on his virginity and his feminine appearance will do." Kushina cackled while poking Mikoto's side. It seemed that Naruto's prankster attitude when he was young wasn't as much of a call for attention than it was a inherited trait.
"Am I interrupting?"
(Cue Music- Fairy Tail Celtic Theme)
All in the vicinity turned to find a young man walking towards them with a smile on his face. He was near Sasuke's and Naruto's age and his build was like Naruto's, as was his electric blue eyes, though this person's sclera was black. His hair was of the blackest obsidian, darker than that of the Uchiha's. He was dressed in a deep purple kimono that was layered with a white haori. At first glance, he could've been mistaken for Naruto, if his hair was not a different color, but a second glance would soon dispel that. This figure emanated power, an aura of protection that made Naruto feel safe. The scariest part about him though, was that Naruto couldn't sense him. His Negative Emotions Rising ability granted to him by Kurama allowed him to sense anyone with any small amount fear, anger, or hatred. This figure didn't have any. None at all. And that was unnerving. To add fuel to Naruto's suspicions about this guy, the adults of the group, as well as Itachi, quickly fell to their knees in deference to the figure in front of them. Naruto and Sasuke stayed the same, the only change was that they were now staring at their parent with bewildered expressions.
"Naruto!" Kushina hissed. "Bow now!"
"Sasuke!" Itachi whispered. "Bow! Do you know who that is?"
Naruto, being ever the one for formalities, pointed a finger at the smiling figure and thumped his chest. "Yo! Who are you?! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the Orange Hokage of Konoha, 'ttebayo! Why do you look like me, you faker!"
Everyone bowing let out a sweatdrop and Kushina stared in shock at her son. 'I wasn't that bad when I was his age was I?'
'No. You were worse.'
'Thank you for that Minato.'
The figure let out a rippling laugh that was as quiet as a hummingbird's wings and as a reverbrating as a thunderclap. "You are an amusing one, Child of the Prophecy. I have come to give you and your companion a choice. It is not your time to move on, not yet. And as for my appearance, this is my chosen appearance since a thousand years ago. I do not look like you, little boy. It is you that was crafted in my image, Child of the Prophecy. "
Sasuke, blunt as always, quipped, "So what is this choice? I've no need for small talk. And who are you? You've yet to properly introduce yourself."
The figure smiled kindly at the pensive Uchiha. "Me? Well, I am who I am. Nothing less, and everything more. I am Kami, I am the Shinigami, I am Jashin." His eyes flashed dangerously and the two of them were encircled in a ball of blood-red light, separating them from their families.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Naruto yelled, slamming a fist on the unforgiving barrier.
"My choice is simple, Child of the Prophecy." the godly figure said, "I ask you, wil-"
"My name is Naruto, you bastard! Read my lips, U-Zu-Ma-Ki Na-Ru-To!"
Mikoto raised the back of her hand to her mouth and let out a demure giggle as Kushina smacked her forehead in exasperation and Minato pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn't their son have grown up calm like Minato instead of a hothead like Kushina? As Naruto continued his rant, even Itachi and the stoic Fugaku began to laugh slightly and Kushina's ire continued to grow. Then it snapped.
"NA-RU-TO!" the redhead snarled, her hair swirling into nine crimson tails. Fugaku cautiously inched away from the raging Habanero, he had been on the receiving end of the Uzumaki's anger, and he must say, his right cheek wasn't the same since. Sasuke stumbled backwards a bit, tripping because of the lack of room in his own barrier. If this was Naruto's mother, he was glad she was dead when he almost killed Naruto at the Valley of the End three years ago. He wouldn't have survived the aftermath of the battle otherwise. "Pay attention to Kami-sama, dear. I'm asking nicely."
"Eeep! Yes Ma'am!"
The introduced Kami-sama laughed out loud. "Oh, this is quite amusing. No wonder you were chosen as the Child of the Prophecy." After a few more snorts and chuckles, the creator of the universe regained his composure and his eyes flashed a deep crimson. "My choice to you, Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yellow Flash, and you, Uchiha Sasuke, son of the 23rd leader of the Uchiha clan, is simple. Your great services to the world are accounted, and my choice is that between a virtue and a vice. Another world, far different from this one, is in danger of a dark force, one that extremely powerful and as unpredictable as you are, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Whoa whoa wait! You're asking me..." The energetic blond pointed at himself, ".. and the teme over there.." He pointed at the impassive Uchiha... "to go and save the world again from another Madara and probably get ourselves killed? It was a miracle we survived this one!"
Is this guy serious? How has he not realized that he died yet?
"You misunderstand me, little one." The figure said "Your world's story has come to an end. The other world's story, the other universe's story, though, is just beginning. I ask you to guide the children of Fiore to greatness. They hold the future of their world on their shoulders, just as you have done. The Elemental Nations has fallen into a peaceful lull thanks to your efforts, but there is still turmoil elsewhere. The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto is need of a sequel isn't it?"
"What about Sakura? And Kiba? And Octopops? And all the others that have survived? Are we just supposed to leave them?"
"Yes, boy." The figure waved his hands and in front of them materialized a scale of some sort. It was precariously balanced on a single spike, and there was a single plate that was separated by three barriers. One section of the platform was filled with a sky-blue liquid and filled half of the whole plate. The other two were filled with a golden liquid, which flowed back and forth between the two section through a gap between their barriers. "This is the balance between worlds. The blue liquid section symbolizes your world, and the golden liquid sections represent Earthland and its counterpart Edolas. Earthland and Edolas' destiny is intertwined with your world's, and vice versa. With the deaths of so many powerful people in Earthland, which became known as the Dragon Wars, the scale tipped, so much so that the golden liquid was in danger of spilling over to yours, marking the destruction of both worlds. In an attempt to restore balance, the universe sparked a series of wars in your world that became known as the Great Shinobi Wars, and the balance began to shift to equality again. The Fourth Shinobi War was the last, but balance is still not there, my son. The people of your world are too powerful, and much too numerous. That is why I am asking you two, Naruto and Sasuke, as the most powerful shinobi in existence now, to move to Earthland to restore balance to the world. But mark this, this is but a choice. I can readily send others to Earthland for balance, such as Hashirama or even your own father, Child of the Prophecy, but none are as pure and have as strong a bond as the two of you have. The two of you are perfect for the cause. You, Child of the Prophecy, the purest reincarnation of the Rikudo Sennin's heart, and you, Uchiha Sasuke, the closest reincarnation of the Sage's eyes, and the most untainted by the Uchiha's hate. The others who have survived the Fourth Shinobi War are working to establish peace in the war-stricken Nations." The figure took a deep breath and his look turned haggard, "It may interest you to know, but Killer B is the leader of the restoration efforts, and he was much more eccentric than even I could have ever calculated. I can only hope that Maito Gai and he do not meet. The rest that sacrificed themselves for the victory against Madara will continue their lives in peace in my realm, as your families do, unless they wish to be reborn. In this case, they will be reincarnated into either the three worlds, depending on where they are needed. Do you accept my request? Uzumaki Naruto? Uchiha Sasuke?"
Naruto cupped his chin with his hand, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He lifted his head up and his brows unfurrowed and he raised a finger as if he had an epiphany. He let out a deep breath and chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't understand any of that."
Sasuke palmed his face and answered for his less than bright friend. "We accept. I, and I'm sure Naruto, wish to guide others. I for one do not wish for anyone to fall onto the dark path that I fell on."
The powerful figure clapped his hand in glee and boomed with laughter, "Well said, son of Fugaku, well said. Perhaps you have inherited more of the Sage's heart than you believe." The figure clapped his hands once, the impact of his palms making contact sending out a shockwave that reverberated through the air. "Let us begin."
The blood-red sphere that Naruto and Sasuke were captured in began to glow a dull crimson, obscuring the two's figure from their worried parents (and Itachi). There were twin shouts of surprise and the orb of crimson light dispersed to drop the two shinobi uncerimoniously on their gluteus maximi. Aged to their academy days, of course. Naruto let out a startled yell at his shrunken form, he was around eleven and twelve years old, perhaps a few weeks before he would receive his genin hitai-ate. Sasuke let out a grunt of surprise at his own attire. While Naruto's jumpsuit had shrunk to fit his smaller form, Sasuke's tunic and belt had not, though his shirt had. He let out a high-pitched yelp as he attempted to keep his pants from showing the onlookers more... unsavory parts of him.
Kushina let out a shriek of elation and immediately began rubbing her cheek against Naruto's whiskered one. "AH! Kawai, you're so cute, Naru-chan! If only I were alive to see you like this the first time around." Naruto blushed a crimson hue of such intensity as to make even Hinata jealous. He felt awkward and uncomfortable, but cuddling with his long-dead mother wasn't an altogether unpleasant feeling.
Itachi and the rest of the Uchiha family just let out an amused cough at Sasuke's shrunken form, which The youngest Uchiha personally thought was worse.
"Ah yes, I may have forgotten to tell you," Kami said, his wide grin suggesting that he hadn't let the fact slip from his mind at all, "but to allow your bodies to adjust to the different atmosphere of Earthland, I will have to de-age your bodies. This age is optimal, as it still allows you to maintain your basic skills and has the most flexible chakra coils, next to being a baby, as the body's second growth spurt is around this time."
The figure snapped his fingers, as if he had just remembered something important. "Oh yes. Your gifts! For your duties to the shinobi world, I award you one boon. I am a generous god, after all. Now then, what would you like? The Rinnegan? Any of the Sage of Six Path's tools? If I remember correctly, Fugaku asked to have separate place for his family as to reconcile with Itachi, and Kushina asked for a bed and a soundproof room. Itachi just asked for Sasuke's protection, which is why you haven't died until now, despite your foolish endeavors. Attacking all five Kages at once while fending off hundreds of samurai at the Five Kage Summit? Really? Ah, I'm rambling again, I apologize, it's just been such a long time since I've had guests to talk too."
Naruto frowned. He didn't particularly want anything, persay. The Rinnegan just wasn't his thing, especially seeing how freaky Nagato looked with it. "I... want to learn my father's Hiraishin technique. I learned his Rasengan, so I would like to learn his other star jutsu. Oh, and I want Kurama back. I miss him in my stomach"
"I have no request, Kami-sama, save for having my Sword of Kusanagi back. I grew attached to that sword."
The god of all creation boomed with laughter. "Really now, this is the most amusing group of people I've seen in quite a while. Anything in the whole world, and all they want is a room for their family, a bed and a soundproof room, a single jutsu, a jaded baby fox, and a mediocre sword. Hilarious!" He clapped his hands, and the young blond and Uchiha began to disperse into flakes of golden light. "Well then, good luck on your journey little ones, I'm sure it will be rewarding."
Minato moved over to Kushina and drew her close to himself. The couple smiled at their child and waved sadly. "Goodbye son, We'll be watching, each step of the way. 'ttebane.!"
The Uchiha family embraced their disappearing son warmly, making sure to make the moment last for as long as possible. "For what it's worth, I'm so extremely proud of you, son." Fugaku said. Mikoto smiled and nodded her head, her tears marking a trail down her porcelain cheeks. Itachi just gave his brother a hug and touched his forehead with his sibling's.
"Remember, no matter what you do, forever and ever, I love you."
Sasuke and Naruto gave a bittersweet smile to their loved ones, and piece by piece, disintegrated from Kami's realm.
0o0o0
(Cue Music - Fairy Tail Main Theme (change between Celtic, Rock and Quiet at leisure))
Naruto awoke to the high-pitched scream of a little girl. He blinked his bleary eyes and rubbed them vigorously. The hell was this place? He rubbed his eyes again and stared at the sight in front of him in disbelief.
"WHAT THE HELL KAMI?! YOU SAID I WAS DONE WITH THIS CRAP!" the blond maelstrom screamed into the air with righteous rage. In front of him was a rather mid-sized town, the size of Nami no Kuni (Inari's town), complete with wood and straw houses lining the road that led into the village. It was a peaceful sight. That is, it would've been had not the houses been on fire, and the residents not been screaming in fear.
The poor boy just couldn't get a break. With a scream of frustration, Naruto ran into the village in an attempt to save any and all that needed his help. "What's going on?! Does anybody need help?"
"Look! That boy, he'll be perfect as a slave at the Tower, take him! We might get a promotion!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a group of men with black hats jumped out at the Uzumaki, intent on subduing him. It was admittedly impressive, if a bit disgusting the way that they moved in synchronized order to take down one teenage- i mean, pre-pubescent, boy. It would've worked too, had Naruto not been as awesome as he was, in his opinion.
"Come at me, you losers! The great Uzumaki Naruto will show you how it's done! Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" The short, er, de-aged Uzumaki took a deep breath, inflating his lungs to a comical degree and blew out the mass of wind chakra.
The gale of wind blew the guards away from Naruto and flying away into one of the wood houses, simultaneously blowing out the fires in most of the houses. Naruto jumped in the air and began preening himself, before he noticed the gravity of his situation. "Wait? 'he'll be perfect as a slave'? You people are slavers?" The Uzumaki's eyes grew darker, into almost a deep purple. "That... that's just sick." He stared up at the unconscious bodies of the slavers that were imbedded in the ruined wood houses and shook his head ruefully. A completely different world, but the people here were just as greedy as some in the Elemental Nations. It was sad, really.
Naruto was brought out of his downward spiral of depressing thoughts by the faint crying of the girl, the same voice of the scream that had woken him. He moved to find a little girl with a ribbon in her black hair in the middle of a pair of burning buildings, moving frantically from side to side, crying for her brother. "O-onii-chan...? W-where are you..?" The girl had a small ribbon in her hair and wore a collered vest over a one-piece skirt. Her shoes were sprinkled with the black of the ashes of the fire, and her tears spilled interminably from her little cheeks. It was a heart-wrenching sight.
Lost in her sorrows, she seemed to ignore her surroundings, a deadly mistake. With a thunderous crack, the timber of one of the houses broke off, unable to handle its own weight due to the deterioration caused by the inferno, and fell towards the distressed child.
"Shit!" Naruto cursed, there was no way to get there in time. He ran as fast as he could, but his shortened legs didn't grant him the same speed as he once had. He cursed again, desperately trying to reach her, and flailed his arm desperately. With a burst of light, a kunai flew from his fingertips and imbedded itself into the falling piece of burning wood. Wait, that kunai looked familiar? Oh.. oh, wait.
With a golden flash Naruto suddenly found him transported right in front of the weeping girl, in between her and the falling wood. Grunting, he took the piece of wood on his back, ignoring the pains as his back began to char and blacken from the increased heat.
Goddamit, he didn't even have time to appreciate the fact that he could use his father's prized jutsu with ease.
The girl stopped crying with a hiccup and stared incredulously at her blond savior, who was still hissing with pain from the fire. "What are you doing? Run! I know I'm beautiful, but I can't hold this up forever! Hurry, leave!" the blond hissed. He had an extremely high pain tolerance and Kurama's chakra was healing the wound as fast as it was burning him, even though the fox himself seemed to be dormant, but even he had a limit. Too bad for him this girl seemed to be deaf or something, as she was still looking at him with tear-streaked eyes.
"What are you still doing here? If we stay here, they'll find us!" A petite hand clamped down on the black haired girl's wrist and began dragging her away from the fray. The owner of that hand, a small girl with flaming scarlet hair in a short bowl cut, about 10 years of age, began to pull the other girl away
"B-but, onii-chan is still.." the girl sniffled, but still allowed herself to be pulled away by the other girl's firm grip. There was a resounding crash from behind them and they looked back at where the blond child who had saved their lives, only to find the remains of the flaming piece of timber that had almost crushed them and no trace of the boy. No blood, no clothes, nothing. They mouthed a silent thank you to their savior for his sacrifice and continued their way outside, to the outskirts of the village.
The two quickly moved toward an old, dilapidated house, away from the group of people that were out looking for children to kidnap. The scarlet-haired girl's friend Simon had already been taken and she was damned if she was going to let another friend get taken away. She searched for a place to hide her weeping companion, when an unwelcome face showed itself.
"Hey little girls, fancy coming with onii-chan?" one of the slavers said, his black hat skewed to the side and his ripple-patterned jacket ripped to shreds. He had an insane gleam in his eye, as if he had gotten too used to all the madness around him and had begun to enjoy it. He drew a knife from his belt and began to stalk menacingly towards the little girls. "Hmm? Why don't you come with me? I'll make things... nicer."
"Dynamic Entry!"
A blonde blur smacked into the insane slaver with a classic jumping side kick to the face, sending the man rolling on the ground clutching his face in pain. "Are you two alright? Geez, I can't leave you two alone for even a second." Naruto said, looking over the two girls for any visible injuries.
"You...you... You're dead!" the one with scarlet hair proclaimed, pointing a quivering finger at the laughing boy. The raven-haired one mimicked her companioned, her jaw dropping in surprise, forgetting her fear in the sheer impossibility of the situation.
"Ahahaha! You underestimate me, young grasshoppers!" Naruto exclaimed, putting his shortened fingers on his hips and cackling, "Never underestimate Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi extraordinaire!"
He quickly grabbed the two girl's wrists with each of his hands and moved them towards an empty crate. He lifted the top off of the crate and peered into the small space. "Damnit, there's only room for one person."
The older of the two girls shook her wrist out of Naruto's grip and crossed her arms defiantly. "I'll stay here. Let her go."
Naruto stared at the redhead, at the blazing determination in her eyes. And smiled. It reminded him of himself, of more peaceful times where he had vehemently claimed that he would become Hokage. He nodded towards the young girl. "If you're sure. Help me with this one then." He said, nodding towards the other female, who had started to sniffle again when she got over her surprise at seeing Naruto alive. She reminded him so much of Hinata, it almost hurt.
Naruto picked up the sniffling girl bridal-style, hooking one arm underneath her knees and gently propping her up by supporting her back with his other arm, ignoring the small cry of surprise at the action. He gently placed her inside the wooden crate.
"H-hey look! It's Geoff, he's unconscious too!"
"Yeah, I heard it was this blond kid."
"I heard some sounds over by that junk house over there!"
Naruto cursed quietly when he heard the sound of trudging feet and the clanking of knifes and swords approaching their little hidey-hole. He and the other redheaded girl stared at the black-haired one's tear-stained face and smiled gently. "Stay here, and hide!"
The girl quivered, but managed to find her voice to pose her question. "A-and you?"
The scarlet haired one smiled beatifically down at her. "I'll find somewhere else to hide."
Naruto winked at the terrified little girl. "Don't worry, this onii-chan is strong." He frowned at the little girl though, when she buried her head in her hands, sobbing. He gently lifted her chin, making her face him. And none to gently flicked her on the forehead. "Hey now, no crying, you hear me? It won't do for such a pretty little thing like you to weep like that. It'll make this onii-chan sad too." he said, making her blush beet red.
The sound of trudging feet grew louder, as did the rambling voices of the slavers. "Hey, I think I heard something over there! Isn't that Hidan's body?"
"Yeah, it is! That idiot, sleeping on the job. Remember, take the children, kill all the adults."
"Yeah."
With a furtive glance to the side, Naruto quickly glanced down at the girl's trembling form. "Don't worry." He glanced at his other female companion, who nodded back to him. The two of them smiled down at the young girl in the crate.
"Live."
Bam!
They slammed the door of the wooded crate rather harshly and began to move away from it, as to keep it from suspicion.
"Hey, look, we found two of the little buggers!" one of the slavers said, obviously the leader. This one held some sort of cheap gladius as his weapon of choice, and it was obvious he wasn't proficient at wielding it by his tight and stiff grip on the blade. It didn't change the fact though that they towered over Naruto and the little girl, at twelve and ten years old respectively.
"Run, I'll hold them off. It won't be hard at all." Naruto reassured his companion, gently pushing her away from the oncoming fight. She nodded and ran off into the forest, quickly disappearing from view.
"Shit, one of them is getting away. Go after it, I'll get this one!" The leader of the slavers bellowed, waving his gladius back and forth. The group of about ten men split into two, five moving towards the forest, and five continuing their walk towards Naruto. Unfortunately for them, they found all of their paths blocked by the blond. Or was it blondes?
"The fuck? H-hey boss, there are more of them! He must be some sort of magic-user!" one of them cried, suddenly losing his bluster as he saw that they were outnumbered by the overwhelming copies of the same blond that they were about to kidnap now.
"They're just kids! The more to kidnap the better! We already got like four from this village alone, what's a few more?"
Naruto frowned at that. There were more that were kidnapped? In hindsight, it only made sense. After all, a village didn't usually have only two kids, like the two he had found, and probably had more. The fact that he didn't find any than the two he had saved meant that the others were already captured and most likely already escaping the village to wherever the slavers were going. The first decision would be to beat up these sorry excuses of fighters that were approaching him and then force them to tell him where the villagers were going, but that decision had a whole bunch of problems. The place where they were going could be miles away and would most likely be very heavily guarded. That was a no go.
The logical decision that Naruto came up with was to go with them as a slave. Though it made him want to vomit at the thought, it was the optimal decision. They wouldn't be able to harm the slaves permanently, lest they impair his ability to work, and any restraint put on them would be easily broken by the young blond when he and the others broke out. It was a relatively sound plan.
"We'll go with you. All of us." The crowd of Naruto's chorused, holding out their arms in mock obedience. The slavers exchanged glances with each other at the apparent change of heart, missing the slight leer that flickered on the original Naruto's face.
"O-oh alright kid." The leader of the slavers said, sheathing his gladius, completely taken aback by the unconventional and peaceful surrender of the group of blonds. Naruto almost face-palmed at the rookie mistake. What idiot sheathes their weapon in the midst of a bunch of enemies, whether they had surrendered or not was irrelevant. Bah, what scrubs.
The Uzumaki forced himself not to retaliate and let himself be chained together in a line. The original was somewhere near the middle, but not quite, placed randomly. It was stupid to have the original leading. Naruto nodded to one of the clones, and the clone gave an experimental tug on the rusted chains. With a loud clang, the chains on the clone's hands snapped in two, freeing him from his restraints. The clone let out a sheepish chuckle and scratched the back of his head when the slaver's eyes swung towards the blond. He puffed out of existence soon afterwards.
"Er, sorry, some of my clones have too much power and disperse because of their instability." Naruto fibbed. It made sense, didn't it?
It did for the slavers. They nodded densely and the group began walking down the road out of the village. Naruto let out a breath of relief. Just few more minutes and he would be on his way to freeing the rest of the captured ones in wherever they were going. Nothing could go wrong.
THWOCK!
The slaver behind the line of Naruto's fell to the ground unconscious with a strangled yell before he passed out. There, her breaths heaving, stood Naruto's red haired companion, holding a rather thick piece of wood that she had no doubt found in the woods. Stupid girl, why would she come back?
"Sorry." The girls panted, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "A hero always comes late."
Naruto groaned and palmed his face. Who did this girl think she was? And what was with that quote, that was a corny as it gets! He was never that bad when he was her age!... Right?
"I'll protect you, blond onii-chan!" she yelled, brandishing her lump of wood like she would a sword. Except that this hunk of cellulose had not even a passing resemblance to a sword and was twice as unbalanced.
Naruto sighed. Something always had to go wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few of the slavers draw their knives and tread towards the little girl, who, after her initial charge, seemed to realize how foolish her decision was and began to lose her bluster. She still held her makeshift club, but her trembling gave away her fear. Naruto let out a deep breath and jumped in between her and the slavers, knocking her to the ground.
"Ow, I think I tripped." he called out loudly before whispering to her ear. "Calm down, kiddo, I let myself get caught so I can save the rest of your friends. Come with me, I'll keep you safe."
The girl's eyes widened and she dropped her club in surprise. He gave her a reassuring smile and got up, offering her a hand. She took the blond's hand rather shyly and hid behind Naruto, away from the amused (and some lecherous) grins of the slavers. "It's fine, she's coming with us." he said. The leader of the slavers nodded and left the girl alone, seeing as she was already practically attached to the hip to one of the many blond prisoners they had gotten.
As the odd group of slavers and slaves moved their way out of the town, Naruto turned his head to look at the girl that was hiding behind his back. "So kiddo, what's your name? Mine's Uzumaki Naruto."
Said girl gave a small giggle at the strange name. "My name is Erza." she said. Her shy smile wilted fractionally though, when she said her next statement. "I don't know my last name though... I was born an orphan..."
Naruto smiled warmly down at Erza. "That's fine, I was an orphan too!" When Erza lifted up her head to stare at Naruto's grin, he poked her in the forehead getting a small 'itai!' from her. "Tell you what, how about I make you a last name?"
"Make me one?"
"Yeah. How about Scarlet? Erza Scarlet, that has a nice ring to it, don't you think? It matches your beautiful red hair." Red hair so much like Ma's
Erza flushed a deep crimson to match her flaming hair and averted her eyes from the grinning blond. "E-Erza Scarlet?" She nodded. "I like it.
The two (twenty one counting the slavers and the clones?) continued their walk in companionable silence, into the falling sunset.
0o0o0
(The Next Morning - Ruins of Rosemary Village)
(Cue Music - Naruto - Sadness and Sorrow)
The little girl sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve for the umpteenth time. Her pearl-white ribbon was a mottled gray now, the effects of the dirt and the rain. She had been here for what seemed like forever, although it couldn't be more than a day or so. She could've moved, it had been quite a while since all had fallen silent in her home village, but she dared not move. And after all, hadn't that blond onii-chan promised to come back for her? Hadn't he promised to take care of her?
She sniffled again and wiped her tears. "O-onii-chan.." she murmured. squatting in the harsh unsanded wood of the crate with her head in her arms. "Simon onii-chan, Redhead onee-chan, Naruto onii-chan." she murmered, tears flowing from her obsidian orbs. And then they stopped as memories of Naruto's last words flooded through her.
'Hey now, no crying, you hear me? It won't do for such a pretty little thing like you to weep like that. It'll make this onii-chan sad too.'
That's right, she realized. No crying, She didn't have time to cry, not now. She dried her tears for the last time and she waited resolutely inside the crate.
If only I were stronger, the little girl thought to herself. Strong enough to stop those bad men from taking my onii-chan and my onee-chan. Strong enough to keep all of the people in Rosemary Village safe from all of the bad men. She would get stronger, she vowed. Strong enough to get her onii-chan back. She would.
She looked next to her to find a small box of what looked like bread. It seemed that someone had used this as a cargo box and stored their next meal or payment inside it. Well, better for her. She would get stronger, she promised herself again.
But for now, she would wait. And eat bread.
0o0o0
Sasuke yawned and scratched his chest, blinking his bleary eyes. He glanced down and let out a relieved breath. At least Kami had been thoughtful enough to shrink his clothes down to fit his petite, smaller frame. What would've looked intimidating in his sixteen year old body merely looked cute in this one, though. Shame.
He looked around at his surroundings, there wasn't much. It was just a forest, not unlike the ones near Konoha, but a bit different. These trees had a broader leaf and were a brighter green than the ones he knew in Konoha. They weren't as high either, and had small thin branches jutting in all different directions, making it difficult if not outright impossible to tree-hop from place to place.
He pushed himself off of the ground and was elated to hear the familiar rustle of cloth near his back. He cautiously moved his hand towards it, hoping beyond hope. Yes! It was there. The Sword of Kusanagi, his favorite weapon. He had used it to make another variation of Chidori, to conduct electricity, to direct Kirin, it was great. And it was his again. He unsheathed his blade, relishing its familiar metallic sheen, and closed with a satisfying 'click!'. He let out a reserved smirk and began walking out of the forest.
Hours later, he let out a relieved sigh as he stumbled out of the forest. He knew that the result of a younger body would mean a crippled stamina, but this was ridiculous. He was panting and heaving as he made his way out of the forest and the young Uchiha had to force chakra into his lungs to speed up the time it took to catch his breath.
Breath sufficiently caught, the Uchiha looked at the scene in front of him and frowned. It was a town, a small one. The size of Nami no Kuni, long ago, and it had straw and wood houses. The problem was that this whole town had been burnt to the ground. The only remains of the house were the charred ruins of wood scattered over the blackened stone footpath. He cautiously stepped over one of the bodies in what seemed like a massecre, it was a women, a senior at that. It was sickening, but when he thought about, this was basically what he had wanted to Konoha. Yeah, it was pretty gruesome. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and began to use the Amaterasu to cremate the bodies, it was the best burial he could afford to give as a shinobi in unknown territory.
When he completed the jutsu, he gasped and fell to his knees, the drain on his chakra reserves extremely noticeable. Goddamit, was this how pathetic he was four years ago? It almost made him want to thank Orochimaru for training him for three years. Almost. After all, the snake sannin was a bit of a pedophile when one thought about it.
He got to his feet, still panting a bit from the exertion of using continuous douses of Amaterasu, pathetic excuse really, considering how much he spammed it during his battle with Madara.
Making his way out of the village, Sasuke noticed a dilapidated old house near the outskirts of town and made his way towards it. Maybe he would find some tomatoes to eat, he was starving.
0o0o0
(Rosemary Village - Dilapidated House)
She had come to a decision. It had been a day and a half and she was tired of waiting. She brushed the dirt off of her knees and stood up as far as she could without opening the crate. She carefully folded what was left of the bread into a piece of paper and got ready to leave. She would find her onii-chan herself. She still felt a bit guilty about leaving the redhead nee-chan and that Fishcake onii-chan, but she had a suspicion that they had every intention of sacrificing themselves for her. Well, their suspicion wouldn't go to waste.
She moved her neck back and forth, wincing at the small pops and started to stand up, when she heard a loud crash. She let out a muted yelp and crouched down again. Were the slavers back?
"Stupid house, can't even hold the weight of a twelve year old. Doesn't even have tomatoes either." she heard.
There was creak and sunlight began to peek through as the lid of her crate began to open.
Peeking through was a raven-haired onii-san with similarly onyx eyes, staring in surprise that the little girl. He was cute, she realized with a blush, as cute as that Fishcake onii-chan.
"Uh... Hey." the black-haired boy said rather lamely. "What's your name? You haven't seen any tomatoes have you? I'm Uchiha Sasuke." the boy finished quickly, as if to make up for his flimsy greeting.
"K-Kagura." she whispered, still staring at the bishounen's confused face. "Mikazuchi Kagura."
Shaboom!
How was that? People began complaining about Naru and Hina, and just Naru, so I sent Naruto and Sasuke, to make a huge change. Now don't you yell at me for making this another NaruErza fic, cause it's not, at least not until, y'all decide that. Their relationship might end up like Fairy Tail's Lightning Shadow, where Erza is more a sibling and Mira wins our resident Fishcake's heart. Who knows? And if not, let's make this Erza pairing more interesting. Convince me otherwise people.
Same goes for Sasuke and Kagura. I honestly got the idea of Sasuke meeting Kagura (i originally planned for him to meet and guard Jellal) when I was rereading Fairy Tail and the part where Erza and Kagura are fighting hit me hard. She's an avenger too, just like Sasuke is/was, and I thought that would be interesting, letting Sasuke meet basically a more emotional, but just as "avenger-y" female version of himself. Yeah, he likes tomatoes, look it up.
Naruto and Sasuke may or may not keep guarding Kagura and Erza. Naruto especially, since he's going meet a buttload of people at the Tower of Heaven. Check the wiki, did you know Angel was in the Tower of Heaven? And PM me for suggestions.
Oh, any grammar errors or anything let me know.
Right. Next on the list is Blade of Emptiness, if you haven't read that give it a shot, and that'll take a while, since I'm in the hospital and seeing how I haven't touched my summer assignments at all. I'll get it out, don't worry.
Review! Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, flames, praises. Review! I eat those things up.