The Future Has Passed

Chapter 4: I want to stay

He wasn't much of a bodyguard. In the end whenever Kushina or Minato came to visit, Sara encouraged him to spend time with them. It was an easy routine to get into. A routine that was broken at the same time it was formed.

Minato's short-lived vacation came to an end. He was on his way to missions outside of Konoha; no doubt acting on the information that Yamato had fed him and the old man. This left Kushina with more time to spend with Naruto.

He wanted to ask why she wasn't an active shinobi at this time, considering their previous conversation about why they didn't have kids already. No matter how many questions she asked him, and how many answers he gave, he didn't feel like it was his right to ask anything from her. She had already given him all he ever wanted.

More and more, it felt like 'home' and 'family'.

But it wasn't just them. The people of Roran had also taken him in. By now, he knew all their names. He knew that little Midori spent her time with her big brother, helping him when he was catching bugs. He knew the old lady Usho whose husband had passed away from overwork and cooked for everyone that came within her grasp. He knew Sarai and Masako, who had all but taken up the roles of advisors to Sara.

And they all knew him. They greeted him with smiles. So did the citizens of Konoha; acknowledging the difficulties he must be going through from adapting to his circumstances. If only they knew.

"Naruto!"

A voice echoed, unmistakable, in its volume. His mother was standing at the bottom of the apartment building, looking up. She had three children with her. One he recognized: Kakashi.

The other two must have been his teammates. Kushina must've dragged them along, too bored alone without her husband. He stepped off the railing, landing in front of them.

"Hi," he said, giving them a large smile. "I see you got company."

"These cute little ninja are Minato's team," Kushina said, pushing them forward. Kakashi was aloof, as usual. Obito seemed suspicious, while Rin looked rather bashful at the forceful introduction. "You know Kakashi, this is Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin. Say hello, kids!"

"We're Chunin, ma'am," Kakashi said. "Not children."

"Oh shut up," Kushina said, slapping the top of Kakashi's head. "You're going to be my cute little Genin forever."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Naruto said, trying to diffuse the situation. It was hard not pitying the three. Kushina could be overbearing, and even he wasn't immune to her attitude. "I'm Naruto, as you know."

"And everyone in the neighborhood," Kakashi muttered. Kushina patted his head, causing him to wince when she pushed down a bit too hard.

"To be fair, this is kinda my neighborhood," Naruto said. "Everyone here's a refugee."

"You're from Roran too?" Rin asked. Naruto shrugged, not being allowed to disagree, but not willing to agree either. "You kinda look like Minato-sensei and you spend a lot of time with him, so I kinda thought you were related."

"Possible," Naruto said, brushing the comment off. He couldn't help but grin. "The nations can be a strange thing, we could be relatives."

If he recalled his history lessons correctly, the technological advancement for parental DNA tests weren't quite there yet during these times. Technology had advanced leaps and bounds in the years after the third war.

Rin had small pink blush over her cheeks. He didn't know why, but for some reason Obito took offense.

"I don't like you," the Uchiha said. Naruto smiled at him.

"I'm sorry that's the case, maybe I can change your mind over a bowl of ramen?"

Obito blinked. It was as dismissive as Kakashi's responses were, but at the same time it was hard for Naruto to dismiss anyone. His voice gave off such a warmth that even the most staunch opponents of his ended up paying attention.

"You're paying," Obito decided. Naruto nodded. Obito stuck his hand out, and Naruto grabbed it, squeezing tight. "Welcome to the village, Naruto."

"A bit late, isn't it?" Naruto said. "I've been here for a while already. But thank you."

When Obito let go, Rin stepped forward to give him a proper greeting, bowing. Kakashi remained withdrawn. Quiet. Dismissive. Suspicious.

It wasn't like Obito's suspicion, which was just something born from a fear of the unknown. Kakashi's suspicion was the hesitation to accept Naruto and Yamato. It didn't help that the latter had been rather antagonistic towards the young teen.

He had resolved to fixing that in the future.

Kushina clapped her hands together. "I knew we'd all get along splendidly," she said. "So let's get ramen, I know just the place!"

It was perhaps one of his fondest memories. The first one he could remember with clarity. The group made their way towards the Ichiraku ramen stand, which would one day become a proper restaurant. The man and woman working the stand were older than his parents.

Teuchi greeted them all with a loud voice. "Welcome! How may I serve you today?"

"The usual," Kushina said. Naruto nodded, and that was all there was to his order. The three Chunin gave their own orders and they sat at the low seats in front of the stand. "You've been here before?"

"Tons of times," Naruto said. And a billion times before that. "I'd probably come here more often but I've had to make compromises. Every other day I'm invited to eat with Usho, and other times I just get dragged along by the kids to eat with their family instead."

"You've no family of your own?" Obito asked. Kushina looked annoyed at the blunt question, but Naruto waved it off. A week ago, he might've had a stronger reaction, but now?

"I have no relatives," Naruto said. Obito had realized his mistake, but it was too late to take the words back. Naruto couldn't say that his mother was sitting right next to him. "But that doesn't mean I'm all alone. I've spent tons of time with Minato and Kushina here, and everyone from Roran has been treating me like family anyway."

"Sorry," Obito said.

Kakashi clicked his tongue.

Despite that, Obito didn't react to the obvious taunt. "I've not met many shinobi from outside of Konoha. I was just curious what it was like, where you're from, that is."

"Ah," Naruto said. His eyes became distant. He could feel Kushina's hand grasp his, squeezing it. His Konoha was… "It was beautiful."

Rin not-so-subtly smashed her elbow into Obito's arm when she noticed the line of questioning would lead to nothing but awkwardness. In an obvious attempt to divert the conversation, she asked her own question. "You're the queen's personal bodyguard, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Though the village is so safe, she often just sends me on errands."

"So you're good at fighting?" Rin asked.

"So is she as cute as everyone says?" Obito asked, at the same time. Rin glared at him.

"Yes," Naruto said. Rin and Obito blinked. Which of the questions had he answered? Kushina's shoulders were shaking, and the noise of five bowls hitting the table released the floodgates of mirthful laughter.

"I want to fight you," Kakashi said. Despite his attitude of being above it all, there was a clear competitive edge to his tone.

Naruto shrugged. "If you want to. Let's eat first, alright?"

He could've sworn the bowl in front of Kakashi was full just a second ago. He didn't even see him take off the mask. That little shit.

Obito and Rin exchanged a glance. That wasn't something they were going to miss. They also wanted to know which of their questions he answered, or if he was just messing with them.

If this is someone Minato-sensei trusted enough to spend time with; someone he had no issue with introducing his wife to, despite being a foreign ninja… what made him so worthy of that trust?

He looked like him, sure. And his smile was bright, like Kushina's. Was that all it took?

Naruto and Kakashi stood in front of each other on a rather barren training field. This Kakashi wasn't as experienced as his. He wasn't as fast, or had the Sharingan. Despite that, Naruto also knew that he couldn't underestimate the man that would one day become so famous that countries feared his name.

And yet, he had stood against monsters like Kakuzu. He had faced Uchiha Itachi. He had stood next to some of the strongest shinobi there were during his time.

It wasn't arrogance that made him realize that Kakashi as he was now wouldn't win against him. It was the knowledge that in the face of impossible odds, even if he would lose ninety-nine out of one-hundred battles, he would aim for that one win and succeed.

Because this Kakashi wasn't the kind of man that became his sensei. He wouldn't hesitate to let go of his values to achieve his goal.

"Begin," Kushina said.

Kakashi didn't move.

That was fine. Naruto stepped forward, his hands in a cross sign. Three clones surrounded him, then spread out. His Taijutsu was sloppy. His strength always was overwhelming his opponents, whether it was Ninjutsu or sheer numbers.

Kakashi, who had no doubt trained with the Gai of this time, blocked each hit without breaking into sweat. He was, however, pushed back by the clear superior strength of the older teen. Naruto couldn't find an opening in his movements, which meant he had to create his own.

With a quick step forward, and a not insignificant amount of chakra in his feet, Naruto leapt onto his opponent. Kakashi pushed the clones away, unable to land a solid hit to dispel any of them yet, and gave Naruto a clear and powerful punch onto his face.

Instead of a crunch, a poof of smoke announced that it was four clones on the field, not three, and he had completely lost track of Naruto.

A leg kicked his feet under him. Kakashi looked down to find that the taller teen had managed to find a blind spot right behind him. Rather than dodge the follow up, Kakashi moved his hands into six seals, holding his hand forward as Naruto's leg connected for another kick. He was knocked away, but Naruto hissed in pain as lightning shot through his leg.

"Lightning Release," Kakashi said. "Shock Hands."

Naruto was helped up by his clones, holding his numb leg. "That's usually used for people in hospitals, right?"

He could see it. The beginnings of an elemental technique with such potent lightning chakra that it could cut through a lightning bolt itself. It was a long way until then, but this technique wasn't something to sell short. Each shock would drain part of his chakra, though, and Naruto had both the stamina and the chakra capacity to defeat this technique just by tanking it.

He wasn't going to let it come to that, however. With another sign, he summoned another two clones. Circling around Kakashi, Naruto approached. Usually, Naruto had fought enemies who had significantly exceeded his own ability. A solid hit, or even a significant scratch could dispel a clone, so whether it was ten or a hundred, it didn't really matter.

Right now it made all the difference. This Kakashi had none of the hundreds of techniques which could level the field, or the chakra capacity to use any of them. This Kakashi had none of the experience that would let him dance through them unscathed.

Naruto hadn't had the practice with someone like Gai, but he still knew how to fight someone at Kakashi's level of skill.

Kakashi hesitated. Obito and Rin looked amazed.

He was a Chunin, yes, but also not yet faced with war and strife the likes of which Naruto had seen.

Kakashi raised his hand, blocking a punch. He dodged two more. One more clone was summoned, grabbing his legs and lifting him off the ground. With a solid hit to the back of his head, he was forced back down, held in place by five Narutos.

"I give up." Kakashi said.

Naruto smiled, dispelling the clones. "You're strong."

"No," Kakashi said, his voice tense. He stood up, his pride bruised. "You were just toying with me."

"No, you're really strong," Naruto said. "When I was your age, I was a complete failure. I couldn't even win one fight with my own strength."

"Why are you so strong now, then?" Kakashi asked. Naruto shrugged.

"There's some days you just have to learn how to deal," Naruto answered. "Difficult times, difficult people."

Kushina looked sad. He didn't like to see her sad. Yet, despite the smile that he gave her and the others that watched the fight, her expression didn't change. Perhaps reading her wasn't as easy as it seemed.

Or perhaps the things he said had more impact than he imagined.

Naruto sat with Sara. It was just another few days since his fight with Kakashi, and Minato hadn't returned yet. Kushina was spending some time with a friend of hers.

Obito wanted some pointers to learn how to beat Kakashi. Rin dragged him off. It was a fun back and forth, but in the end he always found himself here.

With her.

They had decided to eat out today, in a rather fine restaurant of the Akimichi clan. It had taken a bit to convince him, but in the end the argument that she could be attacked outside of the refugee district was enough to make him come along.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go with her, he just didn't want to wear the semi-formal attire which she had a seamstress make for him. He wanted to repay her, but she shut that down with a glare.

Sara's eyes were bright today, he had noticed. They shone in this strange light that made him capable of forgetting his worries for a while longer. It was like she could never see the effect she had on him. It confused him as well.

It wasn't the same kind of feeling he had when he looked at Sakura back in the day. It was the oppressive kind of emotion which made him everything but himself. It made him hesitant, unable to look her in the eye sometimes.

"Your parents are kind people," Sara said. Naruto nodded. "I can see where you've got it from."

"I think I've learned it more from the old man," Naruto said. "He's… compassionate. Kind. I love him, and he showed me just what it meant to be loved and acknowledged."

"I understand what you mean. I'm glad."

"About what?"

"That you're such a loving person. Even though you could've become bitter and angry at the world, you're kind and compassionate like him."

"I try to be," Naruto said. "But I could never live up to the kind of person he is. He has this inner peace."

"And you don't?"

His hand came up to his stomach. To his seal. It wasn't just a metaphorical inner peace he lacked, it was a quite literal one as well. It painted him a target. "Not quite like him."

"I don't think you should try to be like him," Sara said. "You're you, right?"

"Ah," he said, smirking. "I am, aren't I?"

"Hmph," she said, raising her nose in a move that only royals could learn. "I'm saying why are you trying to live up to his ideal when you can just set your own standards?"

"I'm not sure I can do that anymore," Naruto said. He looked around. The restaurant was full, and some people were stealing glances at the queen. "I've had so many goals and plans for back home, I can't fulfill any of those anymore. I'm starting new."

"Then do that," she said. "With us, there's no need to worry about any of these things."

He gritted his teeth, giving her a curt nod. She noticed. Of course she did. She leaned forward over the table, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What are you so afraid of?" she asked. "Why are you hesitating so much?"

"I'm… not afraid," he said. She shook her head.

"You are," she said. She wasn't wrong, and he was in denial. "And I'm not happy that you don't trust me enough. Do I mean that little to you, Naruto?"

"Of course not," Naruto said. "You're my precious friend, I'd- I'm… I've-"

"What are you afraid of, Naruto?"

"I'm afraid," Naruto said, putting his hands on the table. His nails scratched the surface of the hardwood, creating small cuts as he balled a fist. "I'm afraid that one day, there'll be a way back home-"

She looked hurt at that. He shook his head, reaching out to her and putting a hand on hers.

"That one day, there'll be a way back home, and I would want to stay," he said. "That I've already broken off all those bonds I made."

"S-so what?" she asked. Her face grew red. He blinked at her. "What's wrong with staying?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's the decision of staying that makes me-"

"So. What?" she asked again. She got a bit louder. The people were staring unabashed now. He tried to lift his hand and calm her down, but she turned her hand around and grabbed his wrist, pulling him closer over the table. She didn't say anything else, her face right in front of his. Her breath was hot. She smelled like desert sand and Roranian spices.

When she saw he was about speak up and ruin the moment, she leaned further forward. Her lips met his. He tried to speak up, but all that came out of his mouth was a low moan. "Sara-"

"You're staying with me," she said. Her eyes were full of emotion. "I don't care if it's selfish. I'm the queen, right? Listen to me. Lean on me."

"Yes," he said, feeling like a scolded child. She was his pillar, he had called her that himself. He wasn't certain whether he could call this love or not. He was drawn to her, and she was the only person, even above his parents, who managed to make him forget his worries.

"Stay with me," she ordered again.

He leaned forward, kissing her again.