Heeeey this is a chapter
This chapter brings us to the end of the pre-academy days. It spans two years of Naruto's life. This is the only double-length chapter I had initially planned in this arc. (You guys got two, yaaaay! My chapter numbers no long line up, booooo.)
I'll probably take an extra week to upload the next chapter because I intend to map out the next arc to the best of my ability. Also gotta find a timeline. Must not forget to do that.
They told the 4-year-old a confidential secret because it never occurred to them not to.
10/10 smarts
o – o – o – o
Chapter 4
In Which Neji Knows and Naruto Finds Time-Space Treasure
o – o – o – o
Timeline: Alpha
Location: Hyuuga Compound
POV: Hanabi
o – o – o – o
In retrospect, Hanabi had probably jinxed it. She felt like she should get a pass though, it had been lovely outside when she had said so! Besides, how was she supposed to know that stating such a fact would bring about the beginning of the end?
The day had started for the Hyuuga Heiress when she rolled out of bed but discovered that the floor was not the icy cold she was expecting, but instead could be described mildly warm, even. Her favorite outfit had just finished being washed, so she slipped that on and headed outside. Casting her eyes around the courtyard, it appeared that the snow had finally begun to melt, there were hints of green popping up. The sound of hurried footsteps stopped her, and she looked up to see a member of the Branch Family come around the corner.
"Hanabi-sama!" The man propped to attention, and Hanabi made a 'go on' gesture with her hands. "Your father was called away to a meeting of the clan heads, and he said to tell you when you awoke that you were in charge."
"Oh? Alright, thank you for letting me know." She cast her eyes around the courtyard. "It truly is lovely out today, isn't it?"
"That it is La-." The poor man was interrupted by a series of explosions that launched them both back, and the whole compound was blown apart from the inside. A particularly large chunk of debris caught Hanabi's companion in the forehead, and she could hear the crack and the thumb of his body. Only a particularly well time Kaiten (If she does say so herself) saved Hanabi from the same fate. All around the ruins, a number of Hyuuga were picking themselves up, but if this was the total number of survivors from her clan, over nine-tenths of the Hyuuga were dead. (Was this how Sasuke had felt?) She turned to where the explosion had come from, and there stood a pale woman with horns on her head and long white hair. Hanabi's heart stopped. She knew about the Ōtsutsuki Clan, who didn't? She knew what had happened to Udon's team, one death among hundreds.
"It would seem I missed a few." The woman said, and her hair lashed out, wrapping itself around Hanabi's ankle, as well as all of the others who rose. From her position, she could see a few children who were simply still on the ground. Hanabi struggled, but the hair prevented her from channeling any chakra, and the rod of bone ash went straight through her chest.
It was a strange feeling, turning to ash.
o – o – o – o
Timeline: Beta
Those in on the Secret: Tenten, Lee, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji + Neji
Location: Hyuuga Compound
Naruto's Age: 2 years, 9 months, 13 days
POV: Neji
o – o – o – o
As long as Neji can remember, (ever since his fourth birthday) Neji has had a secret best friend, Hinata-nee. Hinata-nee might be younger than him, but she's the coolest. She's a Time Traveler! She's a year younger than Neji, but she's also 39, so she's his nee-chan, not his imotou. Hinata-nee doesn't understand though. She says he's older and calls him Nii-san. She's silly, like most adults. Neji is still working on her.
Hinata-nee's friends are smarter though. Her teammate, Kiba Inuzuka is a little loud, but he's smart enough to understand when Neji talks about ages, and both he and Shino Aburame understand how super cool Hinata-nee is. Hinata-nee's husband (She's old enough to be married, of course, she's the older one of the two of them!) is a loud blonde named Naruto Uzumaki, and he's really strange. Neji is still unsure about him. He's kinda really dumb, and Hinata-nee deserves the best, but Neji isn't sure Naruto is the best. (I mean, he has a giant pet fox named Kurama who just sleeps all the time, and that's just strange.)
The other two of her friends who are super cool are Tenten-nee and Lee-nii. They say they were the other Neji's teammates, and that he's a member of their team by extension. Neji can't imagine that because Tenten is a weapons MASTER, and she never misses. Lee-nii is super weird. He's always weird, and he talks about 'Youth' a lot, whatever that means. Neji still likes him though, no one can match Lee-nii's Taijutsu. He kinda likes Tenten-nee better though, she's been helping him out with his Jyuken.
Tenten-nee teaches differently than most of the other clan members. She's really nice, and she never gets upset when Neji messes up. Instead, she reaches over and just helps him correct it. Her hands are really soft too, and the callouses are gentle but strange, no one in the Hyuuga clan has callouses like that. Sometimes, Neji will mess up his katas just to feel her hands. Not that Neji would ever admit it, even under threat of Hinata-nee's tickle attacks. He's pretty sure Lee-nii knows anyways. He keeps talking to Neji about it being part of his Springtime of Youth.
Lee-nii is crazy. Lee-nii is very different from the Hyuuga.
(Neji likes him a lot.)
o – o – o – o
Location: Hyuuga Compound
Naruto's Age: 3 years, 2 months, 27 days
POV: Neji
o – o – o – o
Hinata-nee's third birthday rolls around, and the link is empty when Neji wakes up. Neji doesn't mind, he usually is awake before the others are, or at least before they finish their private training in the morning. (He's never quite sure who falls in which category.) Neji's chichue shakes him awake and helps him get dressed, but there's a small frown on his face the whole time.
"Chichue, why are you sad?" He asked, and Neji's Chichue blinked.
"I'm not sad." A smile crossed his face, but Neji knows from his training with Sakura-nee that it was a fake smile. Sakura-nee always talks about her teammate Sai who always use to wear a fake smile. Neji looked at his father and just nodded and gave him a big smile. This makes him sad again for some reason.
"Don't be sad, Chichue."
"I'll see you outside soon Neji." Hizashi left, and Neji sat on his bed and entered the link. The older members could be in there and pay attention to the world, but Neji couldn't get it quite yet. But that was ok, because they said it made them tired to do so, and they're grownups. When Neji opens his eyes in the link, Hinata-nee was there, having arrived just before him. She's sitting down, and she looks sad. Tenten-nee was there too. Neji scrambled over as fast as his small 4-year-old legs would take him and climbed into Hinata-nee's lap.
"Don't be sad, Hinata-nee. You and Chichue are both sad today, why are you sad?" Hinata-nee smiled at him, and this smile looked more real than the one his Chichue had worn earlier. She wrapped him into a hug, and Tenten-nee rubbed his hair. Hinata-nee looked at him and took a deep breath.
"Neji-nii-san, what do you know about the Main and Branch families of the Hyuuga Clan?" Neji frowned. He didn't understand how relevant that was, but Hinata-nee and her friends always talked to him like he was an adult and told him the most truth they could, so it had to be important.
"Chichue says that there's the Main House who leads the clan, like you and Hiashi-sama. Then there's the Branch Houses who protect the Main House and the Byakugan, right? And since I'm in the Branch House, it's my duty to protect you, right?" Hinata-nee nodded, and Tenten-nee knelt next to them.
"And do you know how to tell them apart Neji?" The clanless woman asked.
"Well, all the branch members have their foreheads covered, right? And the main family members leave theirs bare?" Tenten-nee nodded but didn't smile at him, which was sad because Tenten-nee has the prettiest smile Neji's ever seen.
"Do you know why they cover their foreheads in the Branch Houses, Neji-nii-san?" Hinata-nee asked. Neji shook his head, although he was pretty sure it was just tradition, but if Hinata-nee had asked him, there had to be a deeper reason behind it.
"There's a seal on their forehead that they all branded with called the Caged Bird Seal." Tenten-nee's voice was quiet and sad.
"The seal's purpose was to destroy the Byakugan if you died so that no one could get ahold of the clan's precious doujutsu outside the village. However, it also allows members of the Main House to punish disobedient Branch House members with physical pain, and theoretically destroy their brains." She draws Neji into a hug as he processes the information. Neji may be young, but he's still really smart. (Prodigy, the Uchiha calls him. Genius, says Lee-nii.)
"Are… are they going to mark me today? Because you're old enough now to be recognized as the heir?" Hinata-nee gave a small, sad nod. Tenten-nee squeezes Neji's hand.
"Don't worry, Neji-nii-san. I won't let then use it to hurt you, I'll protect you and teach you how to avoid being in a situation where they would activate it. But it's going to hurt when they first put it on." Neji nodded, he trusted Hinata-nee to keep him safe. He took a deep breath. Tenten-nee pulled him away from Hinata-nee and into her lap, even as the Hyuuga girl made a noise of protest.
"I'll be here, Neji, and Lee will be here as soon as he can. We'll be right here with you the whole time, Lee will join us once his mom leaves for work. You'll have to be brave, but it will be ok."
"Alright. I – I think I can do that." Neji twisted around and wrapped Tenten-nee in a big hug. (He really liked hugging Tenten-nee.)
"Oof! Hey Neji, you're almost too big to do that in my lap anymore!" She and Hinata-nee promptly launched into a revenge tickle attack, but for once he didn't mind because at least they were both smiling now.
o – o – o – o
Neji stood with his father and the other members of the Branch Families lining the entrance to the Tatama shrine. (A sacred place to the Hyuuga the way the Naka shrine is to the Uchiha, located directly across the village from it.) Neji's Chichue stood just to his left, hand on Neji's shoulder. They both stood at attention as members of the Main House slowly filtered by, heading into the shrine.
Hiashi-sama stopped in front of Neji's father. Clinging to his leg was a young Hyuuga girl in a salmon outfit. She waved at him and sent him a small smirk before ducking back behind her father's legs.
"She's a cute girl, Chichue." Neji pointed her out to her father, who frowned at him.
"Yes, Hinata-sama is only three, so she is still very cute." Neji's Chichue commented halfheartedly. In the background, Neji could hear Hiashi-sama talking about taking him under his wing, but since Hinata-nee had explained this whole process to him, Neji mostly ignored it. Instead, he focused on his shock at seeing Hinata-nee in the flesh for what felt like the first time since he had met all of her friends in the link. It had been dark out the other times.
He had a hard time matching the image of the tall, long-haired woman he knows with the much smaller short haired girl he had seen. Logically, he knew that the Hinata-nee he knew was what she had looked like before she was sent back in time and that a three-year-old would have to be smaller. (He was pretty sure Hinata-nee had mentioned short hair once too.) The hardest part for him was to connect the shy, fearful actions and meek aura that Hinata-nee projected in the flesh with the confident way she spoke and carried herself in the link. (Chouji-nii had been teaching Neji how to read people.)
In the end, Neji received the seal stoically, with an unchanging expression of determination. (He retreats into the link and lets the tears fall into Tenten-nee's lap instead. She doesn't say anything, just rubs his back soothingly.)
o – o – o – o
Location: Hyuuga Compound
Naruto's Age: 3 years, 2 months, 29 days
POV: Neji
o – o – o – o
A few days later has Neji lying in bed, staring at the roof, mind full of questions. His new seal was wrapped in bandages on his forehead, and his brain was full of questions about the day he had received it. He kept an eye on the link the way Ino-nee had been teaching him to, and lifted his hand towards the ceiling, blocking the light flow through his fingers, and thinking back on the way Hinata-nee had acted.
She had been really shy and hidden from everyone, which was really unlike her as far as Neji knew. Earlier today Neji had also watched a training session of hers, and she had been performing at a way that was way below what he knew her to be capable of. This Hinata was (dare he say it?) really bad at the Jyuken style. People called her weak. Neji just... couldn't understand it. There had to be a piece he was missing. He watched the link as Kiba snarked at Shino, whose mouth moved in a deadpan response. (Neji could now always see inside the link, even if it was a little blurry, but it took a lot of effort to manifest himself there and listen in or speak. Ino-nee said it was the same for the rest of them except her because she created the link.) Neji shifted into a position for meditation on his bed so that anyone who came in would assume he was deep in thought and leave him alone. After all, he had a lot of questions and he expected to take a fair amount of time to get all the answers. He closed his eyes and felt himself dive backward into the part of his subconscious where the link lay.
He opened his eyes to the violet light of the link just as Shino disengaged from Kiba, and they both looked up at his arrival. They both glared at him, although Shino's was hidden behind his visor. A shudder ran down Neji's back – he goes to great length to avoid being alone in the link with Shino and Kiba, they had apparently never forgiven the other him for… something. (Neji had yet to build up the courage to ask what.) But for Hinata-nee, and for the answers he needs, he'll brave it.
They all stand there, awkwardly looking at each other for a few moments too long, waiting to see who will get over their emotional barrier first. Shino clears his throat eventually and approaches Neji, but Akamaru (The giant dog always comes with Kiba) flanks the bug user, eyes narrowed.
"Hello, Neji-kun. What brings you here right now? Hinata is training right now." Shino states. Kiba draped an arm around his teammate's shoulder, nodding.
"I- I know that! I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions about Hinata-nee, that's all!" Neji stated, looking them both in the eyes, his stutter appearing when he was nervous like it did from time to time. (Hinata-nee's husband found that really funny, although Neji didn't understand why he couldn't control it!)
"Oh, really kid? Then shoot, you've come to the right place! What do you want to know? We won't tell you her secrets though." Kiba announced and Neji nodded. Ok, they were civil enough. Maybe the earlier aggression was something they weren't aware of? These were good signs.
"When Hinata-nee is around other clan members, she's really shy and pretends to be worse than she is at the Jyuken and other Taijutsu. Do you know why?" Neji asked, and Hinata-nee's teammates blinked at him owlishly. (Neji assumed they both did; it was kind of hard to tell behind Shino's visor.)
"Why is Hinata acting so shy, you ask? It is simple. It is because when were actually young, Hinata was almost painfully shy, and had very little talent. It was to the point where people questioned her right to be the Hyuuga Heiress. This is because when she was shy, everything people said she took to heart, which made her even more reserved and shy." Shino explained.
"Yeah! And Hinata used to have a bad stutter, right Akamaru?"
"Yip!"
"It was so bad, Hinata could barely get the words out, can you believe it? She was always tripping over her speech when we were kids." Kiba chimed in with his dog. Neji paused for a moment to let that sink in before responding.
"So she's behaving like that because when she was actually that age she was like that? But why, does she want people to look down on her? I'm not sure I understand." Shino opened his mouth to respond when the telltale sound of someone entering the link cut him off. (Naruto says it sounds like a lightsaber – whatever that is.)
"Here's Shikamaru. He can explain better than we can. Why? Because he explained it first, it was his idea." Shino explained, which made sense, Shikamaru-nii was very smart and had lots of ideas. Neji turned in time to see Shikamaru's eyebrow raise in an unspoken question.
"Shikamaru-nii, why is Hinata-nee acting the way she did when she was actually this little? People will look down on her, she doesn't need that!" Shikamaru sighed.
"Well Hyuuga, it's complicated. The short version of it is that we want to try to keep the timeline mostly the same because for a long time, things were going very well, and we think we can prevent the last bits with forethought and better preparations." Neji bit the inside of his lip as he considered that.
And the long version?" He asked.
"The world and the actions of people are driven by the way they view you and the bonds you form. In order to steer history, we want to at least form the base of the right bonds to drive history the way it did before. Also, we want to form the same relationships we had before, based on the same memories the old ones were – since our memories will always color all of the bonds we form. Our plan is to remain like this until the end of our first chuunin exams when we will slowly ease back into our true selves." Shikamaru explained with a sigh. "Troublesome Prodigy. Mendokusē." A small smile touched Neji's face. People might tell him he's a prodigy all the time, but coming from someone like Shikamaru, a true genius, it meant something. Neji closed his eyes, in taking the information. (He'd been doing a lot of that today.)
"So why don't you do that around me? Pretend, that is."
"Why would we, little Neji?" Kiba asked bluntly.
"Why? It is obvious. We do not pretend because you are one of us. You are a member of the Konoha 13, this knowledge is yours by right." Neji blinked. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but that wasn't it.
"Ok then. I'll help. Tell me about the other me, please? I don't want o to be the one that throws you off."
And so they did.
(Neji kinda saw why Hinata-nee's teammates didn't like him.)
o – o – o – o
Location: Uzumaki Family Home (formerly the house of Minato Namikaze & Kushina Uzumaki)
Naruto's Age: 4 years, 11 months, 15 days
POV: Naruto
o – o – o – o
Naruto loved his mother. He loves her more than he thought he would ever be able to express. He loved her so much, that when he felt her chakra coming upstairs, rage and sadness fighting for dominance, Naruto went into high alert. Flicking his Chakra Sense over the area around Kushina, Naruto immediately saw what was irritating her, walking by her side was Danzo Shimura, the world's prickiest-prick. Next to him was a pair of guards, and another two trailed behind, one of whom had a very familiar chakra signature-
Naruto dropped into the link where Ino was chatting with Sakura, and once he could hear the conversation, he could tell it was all medical jargon.
"Sai is following Danzo just outside my home, 3 blocks from the Hokage's tower." He saw Ino start to rise, but Sakura caught his eye and gave a nod of understanding. Naruto left the link just as the front door of his house swung open.
"And while you're away, I'd be happy to watch the little Jinchu-"
"No Shimura. My son is a capable human and can watch himself."
"Be reasonable, Uzumaki-san, he would be happier-" Naruto barreled into his mother, wrapping his arms around her. (Naruto loved hugging his mom. Kushina gave the best hugs.)
"Welcome back, Kaa-san! How was the border crawl? Who's the old geezer? Did you do something new with your hair? You look really pretty. You'd be proud of me, I never set the house on fire while you were gone!" He bounced up and down, clinging to her long green skirt. Danzo took a physical step back, almost visibly rethinking all of his life choices, even as Naruto stopped to take a breath.
"Hello, Naru-chan! It was long and dull, the geezer is Danzo Shimura, my least favorite councilman, yes, I tried putting my hair in a ponytail today, thank you, and I'm glad you followed my one rule and didn't burn it down." She rubbed his forehead and ruffled his hair. Danzo gave a pointed cough, even as his guards were staring at Kushina in unfiltered awe for keeping up with the stream of chatter. Kushina turned to face him.
"Time is short, Uzumaki-san."
"I am aware, Shimura-sama." The honorific was stated with an almost mocking tone.
"What's the big-man wrinkle talking about, Kaa-san?"
"Naru-chan… I have to go away for a long while. A whole bunch of years, although I'll be back when the Daiymo comes for big festivals. Now that you're almost old enough for the academy, I'm eligible for long term missions again, and Shimura-sama has nominated me for a position on the Daiymo's guard alongside the Sandaime's younger son." Naruto's stomach felt like it had fallen out of his gut. He could read the subtext – she was being sent away by Danzo so that he could try to induct him into Root. "I'm so sorry, Naru-chan."
"Don't worry about it, Kaa-chan! Go be a kickass kunoichi, and write to me, ok?" Naruto shoves his tears down in a small, dark corner of his mind. They can come later.
"You're the best, Naru-chan. Of course, I'll write to you. And hey! Where did you learn language like that?" A practically demonic aura began to spread from around her. Danzo never could read a room through.
"Uzumaki-kun, you are welcome to come to stay with me-" Kushina slipped away to her room as the elder began speaking, fully aware of the coming chaos that was about to be unleashed. The boy was an Uzumaki, after all.
"No! My Kaa-chan doesn't like you, so neither do I!" Naruto turned one of his hard developed Hokage Glare on the elder, and then faster than the guards could react, Naruto did what he had along wanted to and kicked Danzo Shimura in the balls, much to the gall of the man's many bodyguards.
"Alright, all packed!" Naruto's mother returned from her room that she had vanished to, took one look at Danzo, and burst out in honest to g-d cackles, and Naruto joined her as the root members glared at them, helping Danzo to his feet. "I guess you want to stay here then, Naru-chan? Mikoto will bring food over for you, we kinda figured you'd want to be here." Naruto nodded.
"Is that all you're bringing, Kaa-san?" Naruto gestured to the small pack on her shoulder, even as she ducked into the kitchen, and came back out with a well-loved frying pan, his mother's weapon of choice. She held out her hand, and he took it, and they headed out towards the village gate.
"Yup, this bag contains pre-packed scrolls of Fuinjutsu and ninja tools, but I'll be away for 5 years, so I'll be provided with a new wardrobe there. Besides, I have my Loving Pan with me, and it's all the weaponry I really need!" She gestured to the frying pan at her side, and Naruto giggled. His mother's skill with her weapon of choice was rivaled only by Genma's skill with the senbon. She was also terrifying.
"Can I still study my fuinjutsu while you're gone?" Naruto asked his mother. He'd do it anyways – he had never had access to the Uzumaki ancient textbooks & techniques before, and he was just reveling in having something to connect him to the almost extinct clan. It was just going to be easier with his permission.
"Of course! Just let Mikoto know before you try a new seal, alright?" Naruto scrunched up his face and nodded. He wouldn't, he had to pretend he hated Sasuke, (Dude was still a bastard – that did make it easier) but it would make her feel better.
All too soon, the mother and son arrived at the gates. Danzo had decided not to accompany them, his pride still injured over the blow he had received to his family jewels. As Kushina wrapped him up in one more hug, Naruto couldn't stop the tears that started to leak out.
"Goodbye, Naru-chan! Remember your three probations and be careful, and don't burn the house down!" Kushina pats him on the head and is running over to her traveling partners – Asuma Sarutobi and a member of the Daiymo's court.
"I will, Kaa-san!" Naruto called after her, and then he just stood in the center if the main road until he could no longer see her retreating figure, leaving at an easy civilian pace down the straight road.
Naruto keeps standing there as if that will make his surviving biological family reappear. He stands there, tears flowing now when he overhears civilian murmuring.
"Hey, isn't that the demon boy?"
"I know, I think it is! I didn't know he could cry!"
Don't listen to them, he tells himself.
Demon boy.
Tune them out.
Demon boy.
I'm the boy who found the Gondaime Hokage.
Demon boy.
The student of a sannin.
Demon boy.
(Stop Naruto, they don't matter.)
Demon boy.
Village Hero, the savior from Pain.
Demon Boy.
War Hero.
Demon Boy.
Hokage.
Demon Boy.
(I'm fine)
(You're a demon boy)
(I'm FiNe)
Demon brat.
Father-
Demon-
Oh gods, Bolt and Hima.
Demon. Demon. Demon with only Demon for family.
Suddenly, it sinks in that his kids are dead and that he has nowhere to mourn them. It feels like a betrayal like he truly doesn't care for his family like he truly is the monster they say.
Demon.
Naruto turns and flees, running through the market place. He runs into people and jostles them, but he doesn't hear their protests.
Demon.
He needs to get out of the village, the glares and the anger and by somewhere quiet, and he's apparently projecting because Ino and Sai look up from where they're chatting in the link, a concerned look on her face, and a gesture of getting in here this instant.
Demon.
Naruto ignores Ino and flees Konoha through a hole in the wall that he remembered from his genin days. No one will notice him missing, not even Mikoto, who means well but the talks of Uchiha rebellion will have her mind occupied.
Demon.
Kurama is sleeping, has been since the day he was sealed in this new body of Naruto – whatever Hima did was almost entirely powered by the fox's chakra.
The boy is the demon fox.
Naruto heads towards the cave where he last fell asleep in the first timeline, to build a memorial. The link vanishes from his peripheral as he passes through the wall. He starts and stumbled a little, slightly jarring.
This new anger, this new loneliness – he will pour it into something for the two greatest things he has ever created, and that's a promise.
o – o – o – o
When Naruto reached the cave, he expected to find an area lush and green, similar to the rest of the forest he had been running through for all of the two-day trip in backwoods fire-country. That wasn't what he got, however. About 30 minutes away from the mouth of the cave, a patch of burned soil caught the blonde's eye. The boy filed the information about it away but kept going – maybe there had been a forest fire nearby.
Just because the second Edo-Tensei of Madara had burned all of the fire country forests to the ground didn't mean he was responsible for all forest fires ever.
By the third unconnected patch of burned ground, Naruto was concerned, especially when a fourth one appeared right in front of him. This area was far from anyone else and anything else, that was why they had been here in the first place, so the chance of it being the result of a jutsu battle was slim. Chances were no one else had even come across this strange phenomenon.
Staring at the patch of burned soil in front of him, a voice in the corner of Naruto's mind reminded him to test strange occurrences with a clone rather than his true body came to him. (It sounded like an ungodly fusion of the Pervy-Sage and Kakashi-sensei, and the boy quickly shoved that line of thought far from the light of day.) Naruto created a Kage Bushin and it crossed over the very evident line from green to scorched brown and black. Then, in an instant, the bushin was a 39-year-old again, seemingly forward (back?) in time. The clone dispelled, and Naruto carefully took the long way around the patch.
When he arrived at the cave, however, entering the ruined swaths of forest became unavoidable as they formed a ring around the whole hill. Naruto had promised himself that he was going to that cave though, and he didn't break his promises. Besides, other than being larger and a strange tingling, his clone hadn't reported anything life-threatening. Naruto headed into the burned zone towards the cave, ignoring the way these longer limbs felt a little strange.
Reaching his destination, Naruto had another issue – the entrance was caved in. He summoned a small army of clones, and Narutos 1-30 began to clear the rubble as the original poked around the area. He was operating under the assumption that for whatever reason, these small patches of land were patches of the previous time. However, neither Boruto nor Sarada's bodies lay in the area, but they had definitely been cornered by Kabuto here, Naruto had sensed the battle going down with his Chakra Sense. (Naruto didn't know if he should be worried, or if that was a good thing, or what it meant. Time travel made his head hurt, dangit!) A wash of memories sweeps through Naruto, letting him know that his clones had cleared the rubble from the cave entrance and that Himawari's body wasn't present either. Naruto took that to mean people could not be pulled backward in time by this… time discrepancy.
He'd have to ask Shika about it once he was back inside the range of the link.
Ducking back into the cave, the Nanadaime Hokage was shocked – all of the packs of those who had spent the night in the cave were exactly where they had been left, totally undisturbed! All of the little keepsakes that meant so much to them, that they had sifted through the rubble of their villages to save, they sat there, untouched! Naruto could see the chakra blade that Shikamaru had received from Asuma sticking out of the Nara's pack, and a sketchbook poked out from Sai's bag.
Naruto lunched for his pack and reached to grab a photo album from within when his hand hit an unfamiliar weight. He grabbed that instead, pulling the ornately decorated scroll out of his bag. He immediately noted the Rokudaime's seal which had been broken in the strange way Himawari used to always open seals. (Split down the middle, but there was a fingernail track in a ring around the break.) Unrolling the scroll, Naruto saw the words 'Time and Space Techniques', and a new world of possibilities opened. (Coincidentally, Naruto also understood where the idea to send them back in time had come from.) Naruto rolled the scroll back up to deal with later when wiser minds could look over it with him. He had some… unique ideas for what to do with the Kojin-Tekina Jukin Jutsu, if it did what he thought it did, but that was just from a little peek at the scroll! (At least, that was what Naruto thought that Jutsu did. He might be totally wrong.)
Naruto drew a brush and ink from Sai's pack and a blank sealing scroll from Tenten's and set to work sealing everyone's packs into the scroll – he would sort them by village and send them to their owners with a summon later.
Tucking the sealing scroll and the scroll of techniques under his arms, Naruto offered a few words for his kids, and vowed to be back to complete his original task before heading back towards the village – he had a feeling they would have wanted him to take care of this important task among the living first.
o – o – o – o
This chapter was written in word
I amused myself imagining Himawari trying to figure out how to open a wax seal but failing.
Also, I have a new story out. It came about because the Naruto Movie: Bonds was so bad, I was personally offended. I want those hours of my life back.
o – o – o – o
Dictionary:
Dictionary of Japanese:
-Sensei (Honorific): Occasionally used on its own, attached to the names of a teacher
-Taicho (Honorific): Captain
-Sama (Honorific): Used for people you respect, usually translated to 'Lord' or 'Lady'
-Kun (Honorific): An affectionate title, usually used for younger boys or boys you are close with.
-Chan (Honorific): An affectionate title, usually used for younger girls or girls you are close with, connected with being cute.
-Nee (Honorific): Used for girls who you view as an adopted/actual big sister
-Nii (Honorific): Used for boys who you view as an adopted/actual big brother
Anata: Sakura's nickname for Sasuke, often translated to "love"
Nikko: Sunshine
Taki: Waterfall
Kami: G-d
Kanji: A form of Japanese written characters
Dango: Sweet dumplings
Dobe: A rude nickname, most often translated to 'Dead Last'
Mendokusē: Shikamaru's catchphrase, no direct translation but often translated either as 'troublesome' or 'what a drag'
Yosh: A term used mostly by Gai Lee, just a general affirmative (yes, alright, etc)
Dattebayo: Naruto's catchphrase, no direct translation but often translated to 'believe it' or 'you know'
Kojin-Tekina Jukin Jutsu: Personal Time Jutsu
Jyuken: Gentle Fist
Kaiten: Rotation
Genjutsu: Illusion Jutsu
Fuinjutsu: Sealing Jutsu
Doujutsu: Visual/Ocular Jutsu
Sandaime: Third (The Hokage part is implied
Yondaime: Fourth (Hokage implied)
Rokudaime: Sixth (Hokage implied)
Ninadaime: Seventh (Hokage Implied)
Kyuubi: Nine-tailed demon fox
Tou-san: Male parent, more formal than 'Daddy' but less than 'Dad'
Nee-chan: older sister
Imotou: Younger Sister
Chichue: Father
Kaa-san: Female parent, least formal
o – o – o – o
Timeline: Beta
Those in on the Secret: Tenten, Lee, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji + Neji
Location: Academy
Naruto's Age: 6 years, 3 months, 2 days
POV: Iruka