Chapter Three
The sweet scent of Sakura blossoms permeated the air around him as they heralded the upcoming spring with their saccharine fragrance and breathtaking flora.
Blue eyes narrowed slightly as they drank in the flushed blossoms before him just as a wistful smile touched his lips.
The springtime of youth is what Lee always called this time of year.
"Beautiful isn't it."
"It is," the clone agreed softly before turning to face his companion. "Well?"
The other clone sighed before he ran a gloved hand through his brown hair. "Boss is wary of this place," he admitted slowly before he shook his head in frustration. "Nothing about today is making sense. It's as if…"
"We have stepped back in time," the first clone finished dryly.
"Yeah," the clone answered with a resigned sigh before he winced slightly and started rubbing at his chest.
The first clone watched this simple movement circumspectly before his own hand absently touched his chest as well. Underneath his palm, a dull ache resonated forebodingly. This caused the copy to frown slightly.
The boss was in pain; that much he was certain. The fact that they were feeling it too was strange to say the least.
"Phantom pain… you feel it too," the second clone stated as he allowed his hand to drop limply back to his side.
"Yeah."
The second clone nodded. He had expected as much, didn't mean that he understood it, though
oOo
"Do you think it's true," a stout man, who was probably in his early twenties, asked as he leaned forward towards his companion in a conspiratorial manner.
"Do I think what is true," his companion asked dryly before he lazily poured himself another glass of sake.
The stout man flushed slightly before his amber eyes flicked across the room nervously. "You know," he whispered as he attempted to lean forward further. "About the Yondaime."
Ebisu's hand reflexively tightened around his glass before he turned his head around slightly in an attempt to eavesdrop better on these two chunin's conversation.
"Well?"
The older man sighed as he lifted up his sake dish and downed it one gulp. "The Yondaime died twelve years ago," he pointed out much to his companion's chagrin.
"Yeah, I know that, but everyone is talking about it," the younger man stated before his amber eyes lit up in excitement. "They say that he was walking around the village today in a bad mood looking for his house and clothes."
"Dead men have no need for corporeal pleasures," the older man stated resolutely.
The younger man pouted as he leaned back into his seat. "I know that," he argued back.
The older man smiled as he raised his glass back up towards his lips. "I guess the next thing you are going to try to tell me is that he was heading back to his office to take back his hat," he teased.
"Well, I heard that he was heading in that direction," the younger man countered back much to his companion's surprise.
"I see," he whispered before he downed the glass that had been sitting idly by his parched lips.
The two sat in companionable silence for a moment before the older man poured himself another round.
"The villagers are just bored and are looking for trouble," he stated with a scowl. "The Yondaime was a great man and died an honorable death. Let him rest in peace," he said before his dark orbs rested upon the great stone head that overlooked the village.
He continued to stare at the fourth face that was carved there before he raised his glass up towards it in a show of respect.
The younger man observed this action for a moment before he smiled wistfully and raised his glass up to join him.
Ebisu continued to discreetly watch the two before he noticed the younger man's eyes widened in shock. Ebisu frowned slightly at this as he watched the man try to form words as he shakily pointed towards an area on the other side of the bar.
Ebisu's eyes followed the finger until he saw something that made him gape in astonishment.
For sitting across the bar, leaning casually against his chair was a cloaked man with blond hair and blue eyes grinning ferally at the stout chunin. The blond man raised his glass up in acknowledgment before he gulped it down in one go, gave a two finger salute, and then dispersed in a cloud of smoke.
The three men stared at the spot dumbly as they tried to wrap their brain around what they had all just witnessed.
oOo
Teuchi watched his daughter, who was drying a bowl that she had just washed, with a fond smile.
She was growing up so fast. It felt like it was only yesterday that she was toddling after him with the unsteady gait that only a small child could produce, and now look at her. She had gone and grown up without his permission, he noted wistfully.
"Naruto is heading this way," she stated suddenly, breaking him out of his reflective mood.
"Hey, old man, one bowl of miso ramen with extra pork please," came the blonde's cheerful greeting as he poked his head into the ramen stand with a large grin and a rather fat little frog wallet.
Teuchi smiled at the boy affectionately as he watched the child take his usual seat in front of his bar. "One bowl of miso ramen coming right up," he said before he turned around to fix the boy his favorite dish.
"Training hard today, Naruto," his daughter, Ayame, asked with a small giggle as she took in the blonde's haggard appearance.
"Yeah, but that stupid lazy Sensei of mine still hasn't gotten back from his mission," the small boy stated with a pout that immediately melted away as soon as Teuchi placed the bowl of steaming noodles in front of him.
"Thanks, old man," he stated before he broke his chopsticks and dug in with an exuberant 'itadakimasu'.
Teuchi watched the boy wolf down his noodles with hopeless abandon and for a small moment the image of another Uzumaki came to his mind.
Man, he really was getting old.
"More please," he garbled out as the last of the noodles slurped up into his waiting mouth. "This time with beef, though."
Like mother like son, he thought as he ladled out another helping of the Uzumaki's food of choice before a small chuckle escaped his lips.
oOo
Iruka Umino was typically not the type to spy. He usually preferred the straightforward approach, but for some reason that he could not fathom; he found himself squatting behind a small fence listening in on the conversation of none other than the Hokage's grandson himself.
Man, he really was being shameful, but the younger Sarutobi had mentioned Naruto which was the very reason that he was now eavesdropping onto the discussion of an eight year old.
"I am telling you! The boss looked unbelievably cool today in my grandpa's office," Konohamaru stated with obvious excitement.
A small girl, with orange hair that was tied up into two very large pigtails above her head, stared at Konohamaru with a wary expression. "What was he doing," she asked finally.
Konohamaru's eyes lit up in exhilaration. "He was using this henge that made him look older and much cooler. I didn't recognize him for a second either until he spoke," he concluded with a small bounce.
The girl looked over at their other male companion with a small frown. "Udon, you don't think that this is the same guy the villagers are whispering about…do you?"
Konohamaru's gleeful expression quickly melted away into one of suspicion. "Moegi, what are you talking about?"
Moegi's dark eyes flicked towards the ground in shame. "I have heard a rumor that a man who looks like the Yondaime was heading towards the Hokage's tower earlier today. It could be a coincidence, but…"
Konohamaru blinked in surprise before he looked over at the other boy, Udon.
"Udon?"
The small boy flinched slightly at the hurt filled tone of his best friend before he gently pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "I mean..the boss does idolize the Yondaime right?"
Konohamaru's face turned red with anger. "What are you implying? That our boss would run around the village impersonating someone as great as the Yondaime?"
"He did deface the Hokage Monument with paint," Moegi whispered regretfully.
Konohamaru's eyes widened in shock as he allowed those words to sink into his head.
"Konohamaru, are you sure that it was Naruto that you were talking to," she asked before she placed a hand onto his shaking shoulder.
"He said he was," Konohamaru whispered numbly as his mind replayed that event over into his head. "And you know, he did look a lot like that picture that gramps has hanging on his wall," he muttered to himself.
Iruka sucked in a sharp intake of breath as the final words of the kid's conversation graced his listening ears.
What was Naruto thinking?! Didn't he know that it was treason to impersonate any Hokage living or dead?
Iruka's eyes filled with shame and anger as he allowed his chakra to sweep out over the village in an attempt to find the little troublemaker and give him the most epic tongue lashing that he had ever endured in his twelve years of existence.
oOo
Naruto leaned back into his chair before he patted his rounded belly with a content sigh.
Today was going to be a good day, he decided quickly before he dumped some money on the countertop beside his empty stack of bowls.
Blue eyes narrowed in determination as he straightened his headband slightly and stepped foot outside of the little ramen stand with renewed vigor.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets before he headed towards his apartment whilst he whistled a cheerful tune.
"Boss, how could you!"
Naruto paused in mid-step before he turned around to stare at the tear stained face of his little follower in surprise. "How could I what?"
"Don't play dumb with me, boss," Konohamaru stated before he furiously wiped his face with his sleeve and then latched onto Naruto's orange jumpsuit. "I made you my boss because you took out the old man in one move, I looked up to you and then you do something like this! What kind of role model are you," he yelled.
Naruto blinked in surprise before he placed an unsure hand on top of the boy's sobbing head and glanced up into the faces of Moegi and Udon for answers. The two kids looked at him sadly for a moment before they turned away.
"Did I forget to play ninja with you all or something," he asked weakly.
"Naruto, there you are," another voice screamed out suddenly before the rather large and angry face of one Iruka Sensei took up his whole area of vision.
Naruto stepped back in surprise. "Iruka Sensei?"
"Naruto, you brat, what kind of stunt are you trying to pull," Iruka demanded as he grabbed Naruto by his shirt and retched him free of Konohamaru's grasp.
"What are you talking about," Naruto yelled back, feeling suddenly angry by all the accusations that were being thrown his way.
"Naruto, don't you know that it is treason to impersonate the Hokage," Iruka pointed out with a scowl.
Naruto frowned at this as he tilted his head to the side and allowed his body to sag in the older chunin's grip. "Huh," he grunted in confusion.
Iruka's eye twitched as he put the dense blond back down onto the ground and assumed his lecture pose. "Naruto, don't play dumb with me. You have got this village in an uproar thinking that the Yondaime is suddenly running around."
Naruto's blue eyes squinted slightly. He really did not understand what this information had to do with him. "And?"
Iruka looked like he was ready to blow a blood vessel, and Naruto could not help but wonder if it would be smart to try to run away before the chunin killed him.
Sighing, Naruto raised his hands up in mock surrender before he offered the older man, who had become a fraternal figure of sorts to him lately, a weak grin. "Neh, Iruka Sensei, could you just tell me what I did already so I can apologize for it."
Iruka sighed before he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Naruto, why would you impersonate the Yondaime Hokage and cause the villager's to panic," he asked, sounding suddenly tired.
Naruto's blue eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Oh! That is why you're mad? No problem, I can fix that," he stated with his usual carefree smile to which Iruka responded with a skeptical expression.
"You can quit being mad at me now because I didn't do it," he concluded with a wide grin.
Iruka eyed his former student doubtfully as he considered the sincerity in the younger boy's voice.
"Boss, I saw you, though," Konohamaru interjected despondently.
Naruto turned away from his former teacher to eye the boy curiously. "What do you mean you saw me?"
"You were in grandpa's office talking to him and that weird one eyed teacher of yours," the boy stated with a small pout.
Iruka watched as different emotions rushed across the blond boy's face before he finally settled for a scowl. "You mean Kakashi Sensei is back, and he didn't tell me," he roared out suddenly, startling the three kids in the process.
"That lazy bastard," he screamed out in frustration before he took off abruptly leaving four gaping figures in his wake.
"M-maybe that wasn't him after all," Moegi stated, echoing the thoughts of the people around her.
oOo
What was Kakashi thinking, Inoichi wondered as he listened to his daughter excitedly tell him about the latest gossip that was floating around Konaha. Gossip that concerned a Yondaime look alike, which means that…
"Kakashi, you bastard," Inoichi muttered underneath his breath as the image of the lazy jonin came to his mind.
His daughter, Ino, looked up at him curiously. "Kakashi? You're not talking about Forehead's Sensei are you?"
Inoichi smiled down at his daughter's face with a strained expression. "Sorry, sweetheart, I just remembered that I needed to talk with Kakashi about something," he stated before he patted his daughter's head and walked out of his wife's flower shop.
oOo
He felt…strange.
It was an odd sensation really; one that was foreign to him, one that caused a slight bubble of panic to blossom in his chest, and one that made him feel unusually aware.
Naruto frowned at this as he allowed his mind to reach out slowly, searching for the comforting presence of the creature that had become one of his closest friends over the years.
He felt it in the darkest recesses of his psyche, the familiar aura of Kurama's life-force, but for some reason it felt weak…subdued.
This caused the Rokudaime's confident steps to falter for a moment. "Kurama," he asked aloud before he shook his head and chuckled to himself feeling suddenly silly for the fear that he was feeling.
He was the Hokage of Konaha for crying out loud, he couldn't afford to be fearful. He had to be strong both in body as well as in spirit for the sake of his village…, and yet the strange feeling was still there; its presence only seeming to intensify instead of ebb away. Almost as if it knew that Naruto was becoming cognizant of it.
Naruto snorted at the notion, sentient feelings indeed.
Kurama was probably just taking a nap, he reasoned with himself. He shouldn't let something so trivial rile him so much. He was just being silly.
Silly, he told himself so why were the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly sticking up?
A low growl of frustration escaped the blonde's lips before he brought his hands up into the familiar hand seal for the shadow clone jutsu.
He felt the chakra momentarily leave his body before a dozen or so clones suddenly appeared in various forms around him. He surveyed his clones for a moment, taking in their disguise of choice before he barked out a quick string of commands.
The clones saluted him like they usually did before they all took off around the village to do a little recon. Naruto watched them go for a moment before he turned around, seemingly satisfied, and continued his trek towards his office.
oOo
It was a face that he had not seen in years, and yet the wizened face of the old man was calmly staring back at him in his chair of all places as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
He felt his blood run cold, could feel the tall tell markers in the room that dispelled the notion that he was trapped in a genjutsu, and yet his brain simply could not process this as being anything but.
Moving as if on autopilot, he brought his hands up into a seal and released a quick burst of chakra; he wanted the man to disperse. He did not.
Instead, the confused face of the dead Sandaime was blinking rapidly at him before his eyes narrowed and he fussed at Kakashi, who was standing sheepishly by the old man's side.
Naruto turned slightly towards his former sensei, and the strange feeling blossomed up in his chest again as he took a good look at the man.
The look on the silver haired jonin's face was all wrong. He hadn't seen that look on Kakashi's face in years. The Kakashi that he knew was free, happy even. This Kakashi still looked like he was carrying the burden of that bastard, Obito's, death upon his shoulders.
An imposter perhaps, his mind wondered as he shifted into a stance that was both offensive as well as defensive in style.
He noted with some relief that Kakashi looked reluctant to fight him, and yet he warily shifted his body to match his own. The relief was foolish really. He just desperately wanted this to be his Kakashi because then at least something about today would make sense, feel normal even.
The feeling in his chest intensified at the thought. He could feel Kurama moving around sluggishly in his consciousness as the fox attempted to make contact with him.
The weakness in his friend only continued to fuel the fear and now the anger that he was feeling.
He wanted to scream out his frustrations at these two, but yet the need to dominant this intimidation match kept his feet firmly planted on the ground and his mouth shut.
However, the words that tumbled out of his mouth suddenly caused his opponents to suddenly drop their guard as they gave him bewildered looks.
He was going to attack in that moment, but the sudden presence of a small child suddenly appearing had caught him off guard.
The fact that it was Konahamaru made his mind temporarily go numb as his body went slack.
It occurred to him while he bantered with the child that his enemies, if they even were that, could have easily attacked him, could have but didn't.
Instead, they were chuckling and for a fleeting moment Naruto had been lost in nostalgia as he rapped his knuckles against the boy's head, and in that moment he had felt safe.
He only realized it after the child had left that he could feel Kurama again, and Kurama was insisting that he could trust these people before his aura suddenly recessed again back into the darker corners of the blonde's mind.
He pondered what the fox had said. It was very rare for Kurama to make a misjudgment, weakened state or not, and he trusted the fox with his life inexplicably.
Sighing, Naruto glanced back up to the room's only occupants as he sized them up for a moment before he decided to trust them too.
They talked for a few minutes as Naruto explained things to them both past and present in an attempt to alleviate their fears as well as his own.
Sarutobi had smiled at him, looking ever the part of a proud grandfather, before he dropped a rather troubling hypothesis down upon the floor.
Naruto had never even considered that he might possibly not be in his own time, and the idea that he could be frightened him more than he cared to admit.
What did that mean for him exactly?
Naruto was no professor like Sarutobi was; he preferred to deal with hard facts and things that were tangible to him.
The idea that he was in an alternate universe or timeline or whatever the crap this was supposed to be only gave him a headache; he sighed as he idly wondered if Shikamaru might be able to fix this for him. He was usually the one that Naruto turned to for the complicated stuff.
He noted with some relief that the Sandaime did not seem to be too disturbed by this new development. He simply smiled that grandfatherly grin that Naruto had always secretly loved as he calmly discussed the present situation in regards to his stay here.
He was thankful that the Sandaime wasn't going to kick him out of the village, he really hated the idea of being isolated from everyone even if they were nothing but a shadow of the people that he cared for now.
The idea of a disguise was interesting enough, although he wondered how he was supposed to pull that off considering his proficiency in genjutsu. Living with this Kakashi should provide him with some sort of amusement, although being demoted to a jonin did not.
He had been about to give a smart ass retort to that when the door had suddenly slammed open again, silencing him immediately.
Blue eyes widened as his mouth fell open in shock. He had seen himself plenty of times whether it was in a reflection or a clone that he had generated, but this…this was just wrong.
His brain was scrambling, trying to find some form of logic in the scene that his eyes were receiving, and yet none came.
Just a man out of your own time, his brain whispered tauntingly as he watched his younger counterpart wave his enraged fist at an infuriatingly calm looking Kakashi.
This was wrong, just wrong!
He saw himself turn around, probably having sensed that there was someone foreign standing in the room with him.
Panic seized him once again as he thought about this kids, no not this kids but his future. What kind of paradox would this meeting generate?
He wasn't ready for this, damnit, so he did the only thing he could think of in a fight or flight situation.
He threw his father's kunai and chose flight.
oOo
He wasn't sure where the kunai had landed nor where he was for that matter.
He didn't mind, though. He was tired, and confused, and scared, and he just needed a moment to himself to think.
He picked up the three pronged kunai from off the ground, spun it quickly on his index finger before finally sheathing it in one swift fluid motion.
Finding a tree nearby with decent enough shade, he decided to rest there for a while and let his mind cope with all the information he had just received not only from Sarutobi but also from his newly dispersed clones.
He sighed as he allowed his back to rest up against the rough bark of the Shodai's trees. He sat there quietly for a few moments relishing the solitude before his mind suddenly snapped.
Blue eyes flashing with sudden anger, the blond stood up and punched the air sending all of his recent frustrations and fears into that one singular move.
He waited calmly for a moment for the destruction that was to come before he sat back down against the tree just as the explosion went off accompanied by a bright flash of light.
The giant slit in the ground was rather impressive even to him. Ok, he cheated a little and added his wind element into that punch, but hey he felt better now. Destruction has a funny way of doing that to you sometimes.
He continued to admire his handiwork until the presence of another chakra signature alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone.
He craned his neck backwards slightly to see who the newcomer was when his blue eyes rested upon a young raven haired teen.
Naruto blinked in surprise as his mind registered the fact that this was Sasuke that he was looking at, albeit a much younger and probably crazier version.
Sasuke's eyes continued to stare at the damage that the blonde's hands had just dealt out before he gave the older man a long hard look.
"Train me," he demanded suddenly.
oOo
Kabuto turned slightly in expectation as soon as he heard the door shut behind him. "Well?"
Orochimaru turned to look at him; his slitted eyes alight with sudden interest as a thin cruel smile played out on his lips. "The Kazekage and I had a nice long talk."
Kabuto smiled as he fell in line behind his master's footsteps. "Any new targets that I should be looking out for in this year's chunin exams," he responded, almost in boredom.
His master chuckled. "Yes, I would like some information on Uchiha Sasuke, I am very interested to learn if he has developed that sharingan of his. Also, I would like information on Uzumaki Naruto," he stated that last part almost as if it were an afterthought.
Kabuto blinked in surprise. "The Kyuubi's jailer?"
"Fu fu fu, that's right," he purred.
"Can I ask why the sudden interest in him?"
Orochimaru regarded him again with that thin cruel smile. "As I stated before, Kabuto, the Kazekage and I had a nice long talk."
A/N:
Alright, I know I am horrible at this updating business. I am sorry, but honestly writer's block is a bitch. I will try to do better about chapter four.
I want to thank everyone for their continued support of this story. I was honestly very shocked at the spike in reviews. It took me forever to figure out where it came from. Whoever mentioned my story and stuck in that community, you're awesome!
I hope this chapter made sense and was not a disappointment. I wanted to clear up some things in the previous chapter, tie up some lose ends, and put things into a different perspective which will aid in the story development later on.
Anyway, I hope it was enjoyable. I enjoyed reading all of your reviews and took the things that some of you stated into consideration with this chapter.
All right, enough pointless rambling!
Be kind and rewind…I mean review.