Disclamer: If I owned Naruto, bad things would happen. As such, I don't own it.
Heya, peeps. Time for another installment of "The Silver Flash."
This review just made me laugh so hard.
NARUHAREM FOREVA: "you know...that last part...was LITTLE creepy, and i find my self doubting that it was all good and fun for the story, and more believing of the fact that you might be a homicidal killer o.O"
The sad part is... Yosome really is like that... and she IS a piece of my personality.
This is my 20th chapter so far, and I have to say, it's been really fun to write these chapters out.
As such, I wanted to make this one EXTRA long... let's see if I can do it.
Now on to the fic...
–
Chapter 20: Will Power
Neji's PoV
Neji sat in his hospital bed. The sun had risen just half an hour ago, so it's probably around 6:30 in the morning. His head had been blank of thoughts after he had read the letter to him one last time, and he was now waiting for the nurses to come and tell him that he wouldn't be a ninja anymore.
He couldn't decide if the letter in his hand was wrong, and that fate really existed, or that the battle him and Gaara really was what it appeared to be, just a coincidence, and that fate didn't exist at all.
Neji turned his head as he saw the door to his room open. A nurse walked in with a clipboard. She walked over to the machines he was connected up to, wrote something down, and was about to leave when she glanced at him. She smiled, "Oh, You're up! Welcome back to the land of the living, Hyuuga-san."
Neji just stayed silent as he watched her. He blinked once as what she said registered to him. He shook his head, and then asked, "How long have I been out?"
She checked her chart. "You've been out for almost a month since your battle with the sand-nin."
He looked back down at his legs. He was almost too scared to ask. Almost. "Am I... How... Will I ever be a Shinobi again?" asked as he looked back up to her. He saw her frown, and that confirmed his worries. He looked back down again.
"We don't know." She lied. He could tell. "Your legs are pretty banged up, and we aren't sure if it will heal right." A half truth. His legs were banged up, but they knew the truth, he knew the truth, it was only a social barrier that kept him from breaking down now.
He decided to break it, and get it over with. "So, I will never be a Shinobi again, will I?" He asked her as he looked back up. He frowned when he realized that she was just staring at him. He waved his hand in front of her face, but she didn't register it.
A girl giggled. "Don't worry, Hyuuga-kun. I just froze time for a moment." She said said, as he whipped his head to look at me floating on the other side of the bed. Well, more like sitting on top of a book that was floating next to him. She let her legs dangle over the edge.
"W-who are you?"
"Who I am, is of no importance. What is important is that you answer my question truthfully." She answered.
A look of confusion spread across his face.
She chuckled, and that made him paler. "Do you wish to know what you were truly destined and fated to do in the chuunin exams?"
She watched him with a smile as he fought himself. A part of him wanted to know, another part wanted to forget it. He decided on his answer. "Yes." It was simple, but he was half lying to himself.
"Very well." She snapped my fingers, and the book under neath me moved out to hover over Neji, leaving her to sit right where she was in mid-air. The girl snapped my finger again, and the book opened up.
Neji closed his eyes, as a bright light consumed him. The source was the book.
–
Neji blinked. He was back at the preliminary exams. He was standing on the upper deck, and he watched just as Gaara told a poor Iwa-nin to forfeit while he covered him in sand. 'Iwa-nin?' He asked mentally. He looked back over to where the Hokage was standing. He mentally took a gasp.
It was the FOURTH HOKAGE! He was standing there as if nothing like the Kyuubi incident had ever happened.
"Oi, Obaa-chan!" Naruto's voice rang clear in the preliminaries. Neji looked over to him. He looked... normal. No fox ears, no fox tail. He was wearing clothes similar to the Hokage. The only difference was there was no vest. He had long blond hair that was spiky. "Call the next match already! I'm getting bored over here!"
That's when Neji realized he had no control over this body, as he walked over to Naruto, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, leave your godmother alone. She's got to look tough AND stay cool for these chuunin exams." Neji said with a smile.
"I know, I know. I'm just getting testy." Naruto said back at him.
Neji chuckled. "That's why you have friends like me who can keep you in line." Our Neji(Now refereed to as ON) mentally asked, 'Friend?'
"Will the next two contestants come down please?" A woman with blond hair asked. She had a large chest as her most notable feature. Neji looked back up at the board and smiled.
"Well, looks like it's my turn." He jumped down onto the floor and readied for his opponent.
Hyuuga Neji V. Tsuchi Kinoichi
Neji smiled. "Let's have a fair match." He said, as he got into the advanced form of Jyuuken. 'It's that sound girl, but she has an Iwa headband!' ON mentally noted.
"Hajime!" The blond woman yelled out, and then jumped back.
Too say the least, it was a quick fight. He quickly deflected her earth pebble of doom jutsu, and ran up to her. He hit fifteen of her tenkestu, and then ran passed her. This all happened in the blink of an eye. Neji stood up from his stance, and smirked as he watched her fall to the ground stunned.
"Well, that was to be expected." The woman said. "Winner by knockout, Hyuuga Neji!"
ON's vision got blurry, and once again all he could see was a bright light.
When the light disappeared, he was standing in the middle of the Arena in the third exams. His opponent was Naruto!
"Namikaze Naruto v. Hyuuga Neji! Hajime!" The blond woman yelled as she hopped back.
"Let's have a fair fight, Neji!" Naruto said, as he quickly pulled some hands signs.
"With you? It's never a fair fight!" Neji said jokingly and smirked as he got into a strange stance. It was like the 64 palms attack stance, but more wound up then usual. "You are in my divination!" Neji yelled out. ON quickly registered that his body was too far away for the 64 palms attack. "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō!"(Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)
The divination around Neji was larger then usual, and Neji moved at an Unholy speed. Right when he was about to hit Naruto, a sliver flash erupted in his face. 127 strikes had been parried by Naruto's two ninja-to, and the last attack had been a full block. Neji could see himself in the blade's shiny surface.
ON was in shock. His headband was around his arm, and his forehead was completely clean! No seal whatsoever!
"Sorry, Neji! I'm not getting my chakra closed off today!" Naruto pushed with the blade that was in reverse grip in his left hand, effectively pushing Neji off-balance. Neji quickly regained his balance, but it was too late. Naruto was well inside his guard and a blade was coming up to his face. ON thought that he was done for. Neji smirked, and pushed chakra out of certain tenketsu. The blade stopped in mid-motion.
Naruto was surprised. "You didn't think I would go into this close quarters fight with you without a back-up plan, now did you?" He said, as he forced more chakra out, the blade that was stopped in a forward grip in Naruto's left hand was quickly blown away, and Neji shot for Naruto's Tenketsu in his center mass. Mostly around his lower chest, as those were non-lethal, but would take his breath away.
It was only then did ON notice something. Well, it was more like he noticed something missing. There was no seal on Naruto's stomach. The spiral that was usually there in Naruto was not there.
Naruto did what looked like it was impossible, as he leaned all the way back, and let his head touch the ground. Neji mentally cursed, as he felt a kick slam into his chin.
Neji tried to move his body. "Agh, what did you do to me?" he asked.
Naruto smirked. "Lightning chakra has many uses!"
Both Neji's quickly figured out what that meant. His nervous system was fried.
Naruto leaned over. "Now forfeit." He said as Neji felt a blade on his neck.
"Fine. I forfeit." Neji said, but he was still smiling. "You've gotten stronger, Naruto." He felt Naruto send a bit of lightning into his neck through the sword. After that, he placed both Ninja-tos back into their sheath's on his back.
Naruto smiled as the proctor proclaimed him the winner. "I couldn't get stronger without my best friend." He offered his hand, and Neji took it. As he was standing up, time seemed to slow down, and things got brighter and brighter, until our Neji was blind again.
–
When Neji opened his eyes once more, he looked around and sighed. He was back in his own controllable but badly injured body in the hospital once more.
"Have fun?" The girl asked. She snapped her fingers, and the book closed, and then hovered under her once more.
He looked over to her, and several questions filled his head. Neji finally decided which to ask first, "Why was that world so different from this one?"
"Firstly, that world does not exist. That world was only what was meant to happen." She stated. "Secondly, while destiny can be determined, it can also be willed to change. Whether that be good or bad, depends on the one controlling a vast amount of will."
He only grew more confused. "So destiny and fate really do exist?"
She nodded. "Yes, they do."
Neji looked down for a moment. "How much will does it take?"
"It depends." She answered.
"On?" He asked.
"Destiny? Or Fate?" She asked him.
"Fate first." He decided.
"Fate. Fate, is easy to overcome. Fate controls your everyday action. What you will most likely do. What you will most likely say. What you will most likely see. Fate is only really something that likes to control what will most likely happen, and control everything down to the slightest nuance. Fate controls how the ants move. Fate controls how your body takes food. Fate controls how the Hokage will sign his next document. With a light pen touch, or sign it heavily and make nice long feathers. It is very easy to overcome fate, dear Neji. One just has to think outside the box." She smiled at him when she said this.
"And destiny?"
"A lot." The girl started. "But I can give you examples of how much." He leaned forward eager to hear this. "This first person to ever exceed destiny's control in this world was actually not one, but two. Uno and Dos. Uno wanted to become immortal, while Dos wanted to become the most powerful. They did horrible and wicked things to achieve this. They never did so, but ironically, their wills carried on into their offspring, and they were born with their parent's wishes. One was born an immortal, and the other a powerful witch." Neji looked confused. "How about another one? Oh, Rokudo, The Sage of six paths, was one. He wanted enough power to save his family and friends from being killed by one of the elemental spirits that had gone wild. He literally willed his body to grow the chakra pathways in his body, and created a massive shield of chakra to stop the spirit in it's path, after learning how to harness the newly found power, he spread his teachings to the world around him."
Neji looked amazed. Was willing oneself to be stronger really all it took? The will to work hard for what he wanted and to protect it?
"How about another one? The Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama. He wanted peace, and the constant fighting between the Senju and the Uchiha clan was never going to come to an end. Eventually, the Senju head willed Madara Uchiha to listen to him. The two agreed, and they eventually formed a pact to create the first hidden village, Konohagakure." She stopped.
She sighed, as he asked another question. "Is it really the reason why Naruto was so much stronger then me?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yes, the training he went through to get that strong in both this world, and the one I showed you was so tough his body almost fell apart on him. Only through sheer will did he go on to become stronger.
Destiny. Destiny is the will of the gods being put into a single moment. A single instance. Destiny is things coming together that Fate had predestined, and put them all together to make a much larger picture. Destiny is the ultimate goal of how things will go. Destiny is how the future will look. Be it a bright one, or an evil one. It is the outcome of battles. The outcome of two seemingly unimportant people meeting each other for the first time, and how it will go from there."
"So Destiny controls a bigger picture, while Fate controls all the little things. The two work together towards the same goal. Fate can be overcome easily, but it takes a vast amount of will from one individual, or a group or people to overcome Destiny, but it can still happen." Neji stated.
"Exactly." She nodded.
Neji nodded, seeming to get it now. "Two more questions. Namikaze Naruto? As in, the son of the Fourth Hokage?"
She chuckled. "The chuunin exams ended two days ago. The announcement was already made that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage."
Neji nodded. He seemed to ponder that for a moment. It looked like he was going to ask Naruto a lot of questions later on. "Last one. I know you said it's not important, but really, who are you?"
She nodded, and told him. Neji's eyes widened.
"I wouldn't say that." The nurse replied to Neji's earlier question. Neji turned his head to look up at her. He quickly turned back to look for the girl, but she was gone; the only ones in the room now were him and the nurse. "There's always a chance that something could come up, and fix your legs." Neji looked up at her, this time believing her.
If there's a will, there's a way, and he'd be damned if he was stuck in a wheel chair all his life.
–
Sakura sighed. She really wanted to go and find her Sasuke-kun, but she was stuck doing solo D-rank missions. Kakashi really didn't want to deal with them, and Kiba was nowhere to be seen, though the often whimpering of a whipped dog could be heard coming from the Inuzuka compounds. Sasuke hadn't bothered to show up for the last two day's meetings at all.
Sakura sighed once again, as she picked up the brush to begin painting the fence. As much as she hated doing this, her sensei said that if she didn't, he would kick her out of the ninja program, and being with Sasuke was the only motivation for her. Though, lately, she was wondering where he was.
–
Sasuke panted heavily. The seal had only gotten worse as he used more of the power from it, and the damned log was STILL STANDING! It infuriated him that no matter how many times he threw fire balls, exploding kunai, chakra enhanced punch and kicks at it, it wouldn't BUDGE! It was JUST like the dobe in determination to stand in his way!
Sasuke growled at the log, as he once again imagined it as Naruto.
The Dobe had pounded him into the ground, literally, during their match. His entire bone structure had been fractured. He still hurt in places that he didn't know existed. The medics worked over time to get his bones back together. It had taken a full 3 teams of 5 medics to mend all of his bones. Then there was the ruptured internal organs he had due to the final move Naruto had used on him. If it wasn't for the fact that he had been using the curse seal, he would've died right then and there.
When he woke up in the middle of the night after the exams, he was still bound by casts, and bandages wrapped around his body. He was told to sit still for a few days, and rest until he felt better. When the medics left the room, a strange man had entered the room. The man... he couldn't remember what he looked like. All he remembered was white skin. The man lifted his hand, and put it on Sasuke's face. The strange part was that the hand didn't stop. It went right through him, and it looked like the man had fallen on top of him. He felt immense pain for the rest of the day, and blacked out. When he woke up, he was at home, and he felt the need to hit something. He went outside, noticed that the sun was setting, and started to hit on the log. He did so all night long, and now here he was the next morning.
He growled when he remembered WHY he was angry again. NARUTO! WHY was thay goddamn dobe so damn strong? He was an elite. HE should've won like it was nothing!
The signs of the first release of the seal made it's way across his face.
"Hehehe."
Sasuke jerked out of his internal monologue and looked around. "Who's there!" He yelled out.
"Why hello there, Sasuke." I said, as I appeared next to him, sitting on my book once again.
"Who are you!" He demanded.
I waved my finger at him. "Be more polite to a Lady. You wont woo any girls with that attitude. You need a harem to resurrect your clan once more, right?"
"I said, WHO are you?" He yelled at her, flaring his Sharingan. He gasped. She had no chakra, yet he could clearly see her. This was no clone. Was this a puppet?
I looked at him with a bored look on my face. I snapped my fangers, and suddenly Sasuke was hanging upside-down by his right foot. I giggle as I watched the look on his face. "Now, how do you greet a Lady?"
Sasuke did not look amused. He was downright pissed. "Put me down, and tell me who you are, Lady!" He said with a snarl.
"Hmph. If you just continue like that, I'll guess I'll leave you without answering the question your heart wants most. 'Why is Naruto so strong?' Well, anyways, I guess I'll leave you hanging."
"Wait!"
I Stopped a moment before I snapped my finger, and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"
Sasuke grunted. He really wanted to know the answer to this. "Wait, Please." he said, as if it was a foreign word to him.
"Hmph. Could be better, but it's a start." I said. "Now, do you really want to know why Naruto is so powerful?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
He snarled and scowled at me. "Yes, Please."
"Still could do better. Know what? I'm not telling you until I hear sincerity out of it."
Sasuke just scowled, but controlled his voice this time. "Please?" It sounded ALMOST like begging, but not quite.
"Still not sincere enough." He scowled again. "Look, I COULD do this all day, but I have other things to do. I'll leave you like this until the blood runs to your head, and finally gets it some nice oxygen." I said, as I disappeared.
–
I reappeared hovering waaaaay above the village. Heck I could touch a cloud that was right above me. "Hmmm, who next?" I asked, as I looked around the village. I mentally chuckled at the thought of leaving Sasuke there for a couple of days, hanging by his foot.
I looked at the Hokage tower, and a thought rushed through my head. "Why not? It's been 20 years since I last scared the shit out of him." I snapped my fingers, and disappeared.
–
Kakashi slowly walked down the streets of Konoha. He was reading his 'oh so precious' Icha icha paradise book. He giggled perversely. The streets around him were crowded and packed. It was merchants day today, and people from the exams were still lingering in the city.
A giggle echoed through the air, and Kakashi's eyes widened and looked around for the source. When he couldn't find it, he looked back down to his book, only to scream bloody murder.
In his hands were a pair of white panties with a pink bow on it; his book nowhere in sight.
He was almost to scared to look up, but he did anyways to confirm his fears.
The are many taboos in a ninja village. One of these taboos was to never ever EVER piss off a large number of kunoichi at once.
Carrying around panties is a very good way to piss off kunoichi very quickly. And unfortunately, he had screamed bloody murder just a few seconds ago out of the fact that his book was missing. There was a Kunoichi only party in the bar next to him, and they had all rushed outside at the sound of a little girl screaming loudly. What they found, pissed them off in the real way.
"I'm screwed, aren't I?" He asked Kami, but a kunoichi nearby decided to answer.
Kurenai walked up to Kakashi. "We heard a little girl scream, and here we find you holding a pair of panties. Now, what do you think is going to happen, Kakashi?"
Kakashi gulped once. "Now, I-I can explain..." He said with pure fear in his voice.
Three female ANBU black ops jumped down behind him, and put their hands on his shoulders.
Kakashi saw Gai standing in the crowd that had gathered around him. "Gai! Help out a good friend!"
Gai looked around, and then looked at Kakashi as if HE was the crazy green spandex wearing ninja. "Sorry, Kakashi. But even I know when not to pick a fight."
Gai just told him to go 'F' himself. Great, such a wonderful friend.
He glared at Gai, but then he felt killer intent he hadn't felt in a long time. The killer intent of 20 woman scorned.
"Don't worry, Kakashi!" Gai said. Kakashi looked up at him with hope. "I'll be sure to pick you a nice youthful coffin to bury what little remains are left of you!"
Kakashi just stared at Gai, his hopes dashed. "Fuck you, Gai."
The next few moments would be described as the scariest moment to all guys everywhere.
–
Itachi looked over the village as he heard a perverted man getting pummeled by at least ten kunoichi. "This village never changes." He said slowly as he shivered.
"So this is your home village, eh, Itachi?" Kisame asked. The two were standing on the outer wall to Konoha.
"Hn." Itachi answered.
"What is that little girl screaming? I thought this village would help all little girls." Kisame asked as he looked over the village.
"That's no little girl. That's the scream of a perverted man getting pummeled by at least ten kunoichi." The scream got higher in pitch for a second. "Maybe more then 15."
"Oh? And how would you know this? Are you a pervert?" Kisame asked with a smirk.
Itachi looked over to his partner. "Depends. Are you?" He asked in a monotone.
Kisame chuckled. That was Itachi's way of saying yes. "Mah, mah. So, how're we going to find the little brat that holds the kyuubi?"
Itachi looked over the village. "Oh, it's not that hard. All you have to look out for are three things. One, people crying in corners. Two, massive amounts of graffiti in one location. Three, he has fox ears and tail."
Kisame chuckled. "That right, huh? I take it you know the little fox-boy personally."
"Very much so." Itachi countered. The two disappear off the wall of the village.
–
Sarutobi awakened with a startle. He could've sworn he heard a little girl scream in the village. He listened a little more closely. Ah, that was 'pervert getting mauled by kunoichi' scream. Very similar, but always has that short cut off at random pmoments, and get's higher in pitch at certain points. He shuddered. He was lucky to never get them to come after him, but it had been very close sometimes. He wondered who the unlucky bastard was this time.
He looked out his window. It was just barely passed 9 in the morning. He got up from the bed he was sleeping in, and stretched. It had been a long time since he had slept so well. He couldn't help but ask why it was so good. Normally, being anywhere near this house, and he would be unsettled to say the least.
"Oh well. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, they always say." He said to himself. Then again, who are the 'they' in that sentence. At that matter, who came up with the 'gift horse' part of that sentence. He just shrugged at his thoughts, and went to the kitchen of his house. He grabbed some cereal, a spoon, and a bowl, and then went over to the fridge. He unsealed some milk that was still fresh despite not being in the house for over a decade.
He created a few clones, and nodded to them as they left.
He went over to the table, and sat down. He pored a bowl of cereal, and then sat it down next to him.
"Pass, the cereal please."
"Sure." He said, as he passed the cereal over to the other side of the table. He pored the milk into his cereal, and then passed that over to the other side of the table as well. It was only then did he realize that there was supposed to be no one else at the table. He looked up, and sighed heavily.
"What, only a sigh? I don't get any screams, yells at intruding on privacy, or nearly fatal heart attacks?" I asked with a pout.
"Because, Yosome, you've done that to me too many times." The old man said.
"You're no fun, old man." I said.
"Compared to you, Yosome-obaa-chan, I am but an infant." Sarutobi snickered, as he took a bite of cereal from his spoon.
A tick mark appeared on my head. "DON'T CALL ME OLD YOU OLD FART!" I grumbled for a bit. "Seriously, no respect for me at all in this damned world." I took a spoonful of cereal after that to calm me down. Nothing like cold cereal to make all your stress go away.
"So, you're here for your 20 year check-up, I take it?" He asked me.
"Yeah, but I think I'll stick around for the next few years." I answered.
At that he raised an eyebrow. "The last time you were here in this world, you said you had to take care of thousands of other worlds. Now, even though you're a goddess, that does take a lot of time, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, but fate, the old hag, can take care of them while I disappear for a little while."
Sarutobi nodded. "So, you gonna show me what the world should have been like, correct?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No. You can already guess what the world should've been like."
Sarutobi looked down at his cereal bowl. "The Fourth Hokage never died. Orochimaru never made his village, because he had died at the Fourth's hand when he tried to infiltrate the village. The Akatsuki were killed off by the Fourth. The Uchiha massacre never happened. The Kumo-Hyuuga incident was stopped before it could start. Tsunade started her medical-nin program. Naruto... Naruto would've lived a happy life. He would've been called a prodigy. A true genius for who he is." He paused. "We would've lived in a time of peace and prosperity." He finalized.
"For the most part." I answered him. "Except for a few things. One, that the Uchiha massacre was supposed to happen. It was supposed to kill off every one of them. Including Madara, when he was caught killing the last of his own clan members. Two, the kages of every village were supposed to come together, and destroy the Akatsuki together."
"So, we weren't supposed to start it. But we did. We ordered Itachi to..." He sat in silence for a little while, and I chewed on more cereal.
When I finished, I decided to give the old man some peace. "It's okay, Sarutobi-kun. When something major that isn't supposed to happen takes place, it really screws up the chain of events. You could've never known things like you do now."
Sarutobi nodded. "So, how do you plan on fixing this to make peace?" He asked me, and took another bite out of the cereal.
I snapped my fingers, and my book appeared out of a black hole above me. I snapped my fingers again, and it opened up.
Sarutobi flinched, and closed his eyes rapidly. He waited for the brightness, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes, and looked back up to me. He raised an eyebrow. I pointed up at my book. "My book is opened to the next two years." I snapped my fingers, and the page turned. "Three and four years into the future." I snapped again. "Five and six." Snapped. "Seven and eight." I said. "See any pattern here?"
Sarutobi nodded. He was quite pale now.
I smiled, and snapped my fingers once more. "Nine and ten."
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew right then and there that the future will be in for a wild ride.
–
Sarutobi walked into the office to begin morning preparations. Okay, it wasn't really HIM. It was a clone. The real one was still in the Hokage valley. Still he did show up to work. He sat down, and created a few more clones. They got to work, and started getting the true bane of kages anywhere destroyed. Paperwork. After working for an hour, he heard a knock at his door.
"Enter." The lead clone said.
The door opened and the left over gennin walked in.
"Ah, welcome gennin." He looked around, and noticed that two of them weren't here. "Come, stand in a line in front of me." The gennin did so.
The gennin greeted him as the walked forward and got into position.
The hokage looked down at his list, and then back up at them.
You might think it would be easy to make reassignments, but in truth it is quite hard. You have to consider several things simultaneously.
Firstly, you had to acknowledge personalities. Some people just don't work well together, while others would fall in love. This might not seem like a problem, but love on a battlefield can blind you. You had to make it so that they could set aside their differences, and become like brothers and sisters in comrades.
Secondly, you had to consider who had been with who last time. If you can put a team together that had been working together in the past, the existing teamwork would work to bolster their strength as a whole.
Thirdly, you had to consider type of ninja. Some were close range. Others were long range. A good well rounded team needed a good close range, mid range, and long range member in each. Of course there are other types of squads, but this one was the basic.
He mentally checked each gennin as he looked at them.
Inuzuka Kiba. Hot headed, loud, and sometimes uncontrollable without high levels of killer intent. He was a medium to close range ninja that specialized in close range techniques. He was also a tracker type.
Aburame Shino. The exact opposite in personality to the first one. Quite, introvert, and logically controlled. He was a medium to long range that specialized in non-lethal take downs. He was also a high level strategist.
Yamanaka Ino. Loud, gossipy, and quite frankly cares a lot for her social status to the point that she trains little to no amounts. He heard from her father that he was sort of disappointed in her, and hoped to turn her around someday. She specialized in long range take downs with little to no skills for medium to short range. She was also a potential interrogator and infiltrator, but she would need to realize that this wasn't a game. Good luck with that.
Haruno Sakura. Honestly, The hokage thought she was almost completely useless, and the only thing she had for herself was extreme levels of chakra control. She was also the biggest fangirl he had ever seen since Itachi was in the village.
He closed his eyes, and thought up the last two gennin.
Hyuuga Neji. Stuck up, up tight, but can be easily controlled. Has high views on fate, and believes that he will beat everyone his own level. The kid had an ego the size of the damn Hokage mountain, but was also an emotional kid on the inside. The boy specialized in extreme short range techniques, and was a high level tracker. One of the highest he's ever seen. However, he was out of commission for a while, due to severe injuries.
Uchiha Sasuke. The first word that came to his mind after the image that came from him was emo. The kid had some serious emotional baggage, and it doesn't look like he'll let it up soon. The kid specialized in short to medium range techniques with both his sharingan and his family's taijutsu style, with some added medium range ninjutsu.
He mentally chuckled when he realized that both this class's, and the one before had emo rookie of the years, and loud and boisterous dobe of the year. Weird. He wondered how the next graduation class that was coming up in a few weeks will turn out.
He thought of the tokebestu chuunin he also had.
Akamichi Chouji. Plump. Followed orders to the letter, and liked to watch clouds with his friend Shikamaru. The boy was a tank on wheels, and could take massive amounts of damage with little to no problem. He was physically the strongest amongst his peers. He specialized in close to long range battles.
Rock Lee. Boisterous, loud, and unruly. Followed orders to the letter, and never fought against his comrades. His was a pure soul. He specialized in extreme taijutsu-only close range, and was very fast.
He smiled as he finally formulated a plan. All he would need is... Oh, that would do.
He remembered there was one more Tokubetsu chuunin in his ranks. A kunoichi. The name of Nii Seiyu. Younger sister of Nii Yugito, one of his more... outgoing ANBU. Seiyu couldn't enter the exams due to not having a team. She was a loner in the system at the moment, and was primarily used to help fill in for when teams had a missing member. Be that the chuunin teams, or gennin teams. The girl had been begging for a spot on a permanent team recently. Why not? She could really help out the fangirls. At least one of them.
When he wrote down a few things on his paper, he spoke up again. "I have your teams set up for you. You will report to these teams tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. for your new team.
Team 7 will be Akamichi Chouji, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino. Lead by Hatake Kakashi." He could hear the two fangirls groan.
"Team 9 will be Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura. Lead by Maito Gai.
"Team 10 will be Nii Seiyu, Yamanak Ino, and Hyuuga Neji. Lead by Sarutobi Asmua" He finished. He looked up, and inspected them. "Any questions?" He saw the two fangirls open there mouths, "Any SMART questions?" He glared at them. They promptly shut their mouths.
Shino spoke up. "Last I heard, Hyuuga Neji-san was still down, and not ready for active duty. Why are you putting him on a team?"
Sarutobi nodded. "Good question, Aburame-san. Neji will be healed once one of my students come back to Konoha. For now though, it will be a two man team." He stated.
Shino nodded.
"Any other questions?" He asked, and looked at the assembled gennin. When none of them spoke up, he looked back down to his paper work. "Dismissed."
They nodded and left out the door.
He had one of his clones pop to send information back to the original, and the other clones.
–
Another clone of Sarutobi entered the council chambers at the same time the other clone entered the office. "I thank you all for coming on such short notice." He said, as he walked around and sat a the head of the table.
To his left, was the civilian council members. These were the ones who made his life a living hell, but they were a necessary evil, as they handled the internal economy in the village, and the international trade routes. Civilians could travel to places where most shinobi can't. To enemy villages, and gain trade there. Many times, it was a freelancer group that had no affiliation with any village that completed a trade route between all the villages every 2 years or so. The 5 civilians that were on the council controlled these things, and were elected by the general populace. Though, how Haruno Isako kept getting voted onto the council was beyond him.
Over to his right was the shinobi council. Mostly made of clan heads, with a few empty seats for a select few. One of the empty seats belonged to Jiraiya, their top informant. Another for the Senju clan. He was sad to see that seat empty once more. Another seat belonged to the First Squad's Captain of the ANBU Black Ops, but he was currently on a mission.
Many civilians don't realize it, but there are actually several captains inside of ANBU. Eleven to be exact. There were elven full squads of 10 people per squad under each captain. These ten squads were his assault portion of the ANBU. The rest of the 30 or so ANBU he had under his command were the guardians of the village, the shadow patrols around this village, and had no rank. These were mostly the newcomers to ANBU, and required a little practice being in the squads. The squads were ranked from one to elven, with squad one being the highest ranking among them. The captain of this squad answered only to him, and had complete power over the ANBU when the hokage wasn't around or out of commission. This system was set up for ease of communication and structure of rank. He could relay a message to the First, who would then relay the message to the other available captains, and then his own squad, while the other captains would inform their own squads. If the captain of the squad was not available, then the second in command of each squad would be informed, and they in turn would inform their squad mates. In less then a minute, he could mobilize his entire ANBU unit if necessary. Sometimes in mere seconds if it called for it.
The seats that were full, were Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka. Out of the nine seats for the shinobi side only six were here.
"No problem, Hokage-sama." Hiashi answered. "What are we here for?"
"First, I want to thank you all for a great job in handling the invasion." He started.
"Pfft. As if you could call that an invasion. It was more like a massacre for them!" Tsume answered with a chuckle.
The rest of the shinobi chuckled with her, with the exception of Hiashi, who smirked slightly.
"Secondly, I wanted your opinions on what we should do with the prisoners of war." They had captured exactly 48 PoWs during the ambush. Mostly Suna, but they had a few Oto.
Before anything could be said by the shinobis, one of the civilians spoke up first.
"We should just kill them all. Prisoners of war eat up a lot of money."
"He has a point." Said Shibi. "We have to feed them, and give them water. They do nothing but suck up money. However, Suna had broken the treaty, they had no idea that their leader was a fraud."
"So what should we do with the suna PoWs?" Tsume asked.
"Just kill them off!" Said Itakana, a council member.
The five shinobi stared at them with a dull look. Sarutobi spoke up, "We can't just kill them all off. If we wish to become allies with Suna once again we can't just kill half of their force on just a whim."
"We still have to show them that we mean business." Tsume countered, "Why not kill off some of their chuunin, and then send the rest back across the borders?"
"That could work." Said Rourer another one of the civilian council members.
Sarutobi nodded. "Is the rest of the council in agreement about this?" There weren't any negatives. "Right, so, how should we dispose of the sound PoWs?"
"I demand public executions for them all!" Yelled a very loud Haruno Isako, Sakura's mother.
"You do realize that public executions cost a bit of money, correct?" Sarutobi drolled out. He was partially deaf in his left ear now, and had to wiggle his ear a little to get the ring out of it.
"Hpmh," Tsume grunted, "Why not just kill them off in their cells?"
"Troublesome, I think I have a better idea." Shikaku said in a lazy tone.
Everyone closed their mouths, and paid full attention to the Nara. When a Nara has an idea, it usually works.
"Troublesome, We take the Suna PoWs, and throw them into the sound territory without weapons or supplies. We also take the Oto nins, and throw them directly at the Suna village. Before we do, we put them all in a genjutsu of some kind that will make them attack each other's villages. The Suna one will wear off, and let them retreat after a while, while the Oto will commit suicide in the end. Thus punishing both villages for their actions against us, and getting some usefulness out of them being held in our prisons."
The entire room was silently pondering the idea. "And how will you apply such genjutsu?" Sarutobi asked. While applying mass genjutsu is not unheard of, it is very difficult to perform, and will only last so long.
"Troublesome, Fuinjutsu." was all the Nara said, and then plopped his head back down onto the table.
The old man nodded. Applying seals to a person would prolong the effect of the genjutsu, even make it permanent.
Hiruzen thought for a moment, and then spoke up, "Does anyone have questions?"
Shibi raised his hand, "Who will perform the sealing?"
Shikaku raised his hand with his head still on the table, "Jiraiya of the Sennin can create the seal in no time. Creating copies of it should only be a matter of minutes, and application should only take so long. It is only a genjutsu fuinjutsu, and not a major seal. As far as my knowledge of such seals go they are only about four or five steps long, and can easily be replicated." He let his hand drop, and fell back asleep.
"Any others?" The Hokage asked. When no one else raised their hand he spoke again, "Right, All in favor?" All hands rose except Shikaku's who was asleep. "All against?" No hands rose. "It shall be done. Next on my list is the economic back lash of this little excursion..."
–
After talking for a few hours of talking, I decided to leave. Sarutobi smiled, and told me to come back and visit once more. He blinked, and I disappeared.
The old man had a lot to think of now. How he wanted to take Konoha into the future. With Destiny and Fate no longer in control of the events that will happen, everyone has full control over their own futures.
It will literally be a battle of wills.
With one determining this world's fate. That one has a heavy burden on his shoulders. He wondered who it was.
He sighed, and checked the time. It was close to noon now, and he supposed he should check on Naruto.
He walked out of his house, and went over to the Fourth's.
On his way over, he thought back to certain parts of the conversation.
Flashback
"So, the next ten years. Are you sure, Yosome? Doing something like this could mean-"
"Severe consequences. I know." she responded. The little girl looked down sadly. "Everything I tried to save this world ended up being thrown in my face, Sarutobi. First the Juubi being locked away when it was only giving a test. Then the Shodaime willing the leader of a despicable clan to make peace with them. It's just been one thing after another. Truthfully? Verallians, witches, werewolves, real demons, genocidal elemental spirits, immortal humans. They were never meant to exist in this world. This world was supposed to live in peace and prosperity, but... Why? Why are you humans so damn impossible to control?" She looked really sad at this point.
Sarutobi got up, and walked around the table to her. He knelt down, and he hugged her. "Because, Yosome-chan. We can't control ourselves. We humans act on a strange mix of both logic and emotions. Some humans live without logic, and act on emotion only, becoming mere savages. Other humans act out of nothing but logic, making them into machines. The point is, humans need both. It had taken me a long time to learn that, Yosome-chan. That is the will of fire in this village. That is what makes me kind and compassionate when I need to be, and a cold-hearted ruler the other times." She looked back up at him, and smiled in a true way.
"Thank you, Hiruzen-kun." She patted the book underneath her. "The first time you and I met, I was going to destroy this book. But then you came along, you snot-nosed brat." She chuckled at this point, as did the old man. They had fun times when they played around. "It was because of you that this book, and in turn this world, still exists. I needed to hear that from you once more, Hiruzen-kun. You were the first one who saw what being a kind being truly is. You're the first one who saw the trick behind my book." She paused. "You're literally my favorite guy in this world. You have never tried to break Destiny, but flow along with it, in hopes of returning the world to peace. Some may call you weak willed for that, but in my eyes, it takes a strong will to defy Destiny. It takes an even stronger one to see where Destiny will lead you, and truly believe in it.
"It is why I am doing this, this time around. The gathering of this many strong willed individuals in one place is too much of a coincidence. No. I will not watch this time, and observe as the world tears itself to pieces."
End flashback
Sarutobi paused next to the office of Minato Namikaze. His successor's office. He peeked through the cracked door, only to see what he expected to see.
A passed out Naruto. The fox-kid wore himself out trying to figure out a puzzle left for him by his father. The kid wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the bunch, but what he lacked in the thinking department, he made up for in ingenuity and creativity. The ability to think up something on the spot with a little motivation. The old man chuckled. The more the kid changed as time passed by, the more he stayed the same.
"What's up, Oji-san?" Naruto asked him from behind, nearly scaring the hell out of him.
He looked to the Naruto behind him, and then into the room where it held a sleeping Naruto. "A clone I take it?"
"Yeah. Boss wanted us to take in as much of the house as we could, as well as think of a solution to our problem."
"Problem?" He asked.
"Yeah, well. No matter how much the boss tries, he can't seem to unlock the last scroll from behind the seal."
"Well, how long has he been asleep now?" Sarutobi asked.
"Um, about 7 hours now." The clone said.
"Alright. I'll talk to him. Sometimes, looking at something with a different set of eyes can open up a path unknown to the first." He said sagely. The clone nodded, and then went back off to it's task.
The Professor walked into the study slowly, and sat down behind the desk Naruto was sleeping against. He carefully took up the letter his successor had made out to Naruto. He read it carefully, and then looked back up at the pictures.
Himself in his prime.
Senju Hashirama standing next to his brother Senju Tobirama. Both in their Hokage battle uniforms. Both standing there with a smile on their faces. Just like the last time he had scene them alive in real life.
His student Jiraiya.
His student Orochimaru, before he become the monster he was.
His student Tsunade.
Minato standing in a fighting pose. A hardened look in his eyes, but a smile on his face.
Kushina, Minato's wife, standing there looking tall and proud as she always was. She was the real reason why Minato became so strong.
He looked down to the scrolls on the desk before him. There were six scrolls, all standing on one side, in the exact order of the pictures. The was room to the right of the sixth one for the one that was supposed to come from Kushina's seal.
None of the other scrolls were open yet. In fact they all still had their family blood seal on them.
He nodded to himself, and then quickly kicked the front of the desk he was sitting at.
Naruto stirred from his resting place, and stretched as he slowly woke up.
"Hello, Naruto-kun." The old man said.
Naruto looked back at him, not really surprised. "Hello, Oji-san. Come to help out?"
"Why not? I figured that I might help you out somewhat. Being the Professor does have its quirks you know." Sarutobi smiled.
Naruto chuckled. "Okay, where do you want to start?"
"Well, from all of my experience, sometimes it's best to go back to the root of the problem. Try reading the letter you got from your dad out loud. Particularly the part about the paintings and the order."
"Behind each painting is a special something to you. The order of the release is 5247316. Please memorize that so you can repeat it forwards and backwards." Said while reading it out loud.
The old man nodded. "Okay, now. What have you done?"
–
Haku's PoV
Haku was having a blast. She had been at the chuunin exams, and to be honest, she was a little afraid of Naruto at full power. Then she thought back to the goofy smile he always made, and chuckled as she remembered him being kind hearted.
Surprisingly, she was getting along well with the people around her. She made some friends with her neighbors, and got to mingle with the civilians.
Sure, she had a private ANBU escort 24/7, but she didn't mind. She even got to know one of her 'shadows' Neko.
Neko was friendly to say the least, but they both kept the fact they could become enemies at any moment in the back of their heads. So it was a friendly, if strained relationship.
She still had 6 months to go before she could become a shinobi, and work along side with her secret crush. She had seen him walking into the academy building duriung the chuunin exams, and suffice to say, she was gone. Haku wondered if the guy would even like her though.
Currently, she was taking her groceries home from the local store, and both of her hands were full. She almost tripped over herself when she saw her crush round the corner, and she instantly hid behind her bags with a blush.
As soon as the guy walked right by her, she breathed out, and continued on.
Or she would've, if the people around her hadn't stopped walking. Hell, no one was even breathing. She looked around for a while, but there was nothing there.
She heard a girl giggle right behind her. Haku spun on her foot, placed the bags down, and pulled out her hidden senbon. She almost dropped it when she came face to face with a little girl.
Said little girl was hanging upside down, but gravity seemed to be going up for her, as her frilled dress and hair went up instead of down.
"Hello Haku." The girl said, but it seemed more in her mind, then physically. Still the girl's mouth moved. "I have come to see if you want to see a world unseen?"
Haku, being wary of the girl, but lowered her senbon answered, "Who are are, and what do you mean, a 'world unseen?'" with a question of her own.
"I mean just that. This book here," She gestured to the book to her right, "will show you a world of what could have been. Do you wish to see your destiny of the past?" She asked.
Haku raised an eyebrow. She thought it over for a minute. "No. I'm happy here. Why would I want to see this world when it could only be something that can't be?"
The girl giggled. "Good answer. You don't want to burden yourself with something that can't be. You're not the first to answer like that. However, this is important. For the good of the future, you must see this story." She snapped her fingers, and the book opened.
Flash.
Haku giggling with some of the girls in an academy class.
Flash.
The Mizukage patting her on the head for a job well done.
Flash.
Her father praising her for her mastery of her bloodline.
Flash.
Meeting a blond man a red haired woman and Naruto. The man wore the hokage hat.
Flash.
Her mother smiling down at her. "Haku, I love you." Her voice echoed.
Flash.
Haku threw a senbon at a man to distract him, as Zabuza tore through the enemy. Naruto yelled something at her, and she dodged.
Flash.
Standing before the gates of Iwagakure. She saw the back of her teammates as they rushed up to the gates. Their chuunin instructor chuckling at the boys' antics.
Flash.
Hinata standing at her back, both of them mocking each other while cutting down the large number of strange animals.
Flash.
Receiving a chuunin jacket from her kage.
Flash.
Seeing a far and wide desert. A red haired boy, Gaara, smiling up at her, and holding out his hand.
Flash.
Crying over a young boy's body, and yelling out something incoherent.
Flash.
Haku was on the ground crying her heart out. The images she saw were cruel and joyful at the same time. She knew this world would never exist, but she wanted it so badly.
The last image made her feel sick. She looked up to the girl with disdain. "Why? Why did you show me this?"
The girl, having lost her smile, sighed. "It is because you need to know these things. You need to know that your village's mizukage was truly not evil. He was being controlled."
"Controlled?" Haku asked.
"Yes. By who? That is for you to find out. You could've had this life if not for the fact that the Mizukage, Yagura, was controlled. However, I do not mean for you to become an avenger. I mean for you to forgive your people who shunned you. Even your own father." She paused. "You saw how happy he was with you, correct?"
Haku slowly thought back, and nodded. "Yes. I remember that. So, I'm supposed to forgive them just like that?" A tear streaked down her cheek. She would never feel that in reality.
The girl shook her head. "No. No immediately. But you should forgive them with time. This was also supposed to give you a purpose. To help you return to your village long lost to madness. It is not your destiny to grow up here."
"Not my destiny?" Haku thought for a moment. "I was supposed to live happily with my family. I was to never know fear until I entered the academy. But no. That past never happened. I will choose to live here instead."
The girl smiled at that. "Truly, you are strong, Haku-chan. You wish to stay here, and protect the ones you know now. The first friend your age, Naruto, and you secret crush."
Haku blushed at that. "Wh-what do you mean by 'strong'? I thought I failed as a weapon to my master, Zabuza."
The girl huffed. "Didn't you already get over that? I mean come on. You are no weapon, but you are a shield. Weapons were meant to hurt, a shield was meant to protect. However, you are not just a mere tool for protection. You have feelings and emotions. You can think for yourself. Don't just throw your life away, dear girl. For if you do, you'll make your precious ones sad."
Haku looked down. She hadn't thought of that. "What about the rest of the images?"
"Everyone is destined to meet a certain someone. From these points, new actions occur. You were supposed to meet Naruto much earlier then you had in reality. From that, you were supposed to make new abilities that the world had never seen before. Sadly, that never happened. However, the images do make up for things. From here, you will create your own path. Make your own future. Meet your own destiny." The girl disappeared.
Haku looked all around her, but couldn't find the girl. She thought about what the girl had said. Meet her own destiny? Be a shield, but keep your feelings? Life. Strength.
Haku looked down, but then heard noise all around her. Time had started up again. She went to pick up her groceries, but stopped when a hand went for the same bag. She looked to see who it was, and blushed at being in close proximity to her crush.
"You looked like you needed some help." The boy said.
–
Double Doors burst open.
"I need some medic-nin, Stat!" A male shinobi yelled out. He was pulling a medical bed behind him with Kakashi lying on it. He looked battered and bruised. Several of his arms were in temporary splints, and his neck was being kept still by a brace. His clothes were torn up, and scratched to hell. Amazingly, his mask survived somehow, so his face was still covered, however, that wasn't to say that he had major scratches on it.
However, he wasn't laying down flat. Both of his hands were covering his crotch, and his knees bent up to help protect his precious jewels. He had tears coming out of his eyes, and was crying in a high pitch.
Several medics came up, and started to diagnose the poor man.
"What happened to him?" One of the medics asked.
"He pissed off a load of kunoichi." said a female walking behind them. It was Kurenai. "Me included."
The female medics stopped, and looked at her for an answer.
"Code 73-A." was all Kurenai said, and walked out the door.
At that moment, all of the female medics left, leaving a miniscule few male medics left, as medic-nins tended to be female due to high chakra control levels required for the job.
Kakashi would live... barely.
–
Lee pumped his fist in a one two fashion. He was currently hitting a log as hard as he could with each strike.
Normally this would tear up the skin on your knuckles, but over time, Lee's knuckles hardened and the skin calloused, thus, this was actually not really that difficult for him to do.
He had seen how badly outclassed he was by the other contestants in the chuunin exam.
His fist missed it's target.
"Alright, since I could not do 1000 one two punches in a row, I shall do 1000 kicks with each leg. If I cannot do that I will Do 100 push-ups. If I can not do tha-"
Before Lee could continue, a loud voice interrupted him. "DYNAMIC ENTERY!" Gai double barrel kicked Lee in the chest.
Normally, a kick from this man would shatter bones. However, Lee had been trained by this man to harden his bones.
"LEE! HOW UNYOUTHFUL YOU'VE BECOME! TO NOT NOTICE YOUR SURROUNDINGS IS UNFORGIVABLE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!(caps lock ftw) I HAVE TRULY BECOME UNYOUTHFUL! I HAVE FAILED YOU!"
"DO NOT WORRY MY STUDENT, FOR TOGETHER, WE SHALL BECOME MORE YOUTHFU-" Gai's rant was stopped by a book that hit him in the head. "What's this?" He picked the book up from the ground, and read the title. "10 things women want in their men?" He opened the book, turned to the first page, and read it.
–
I giggled while sitting on top of the Hokage mountain. "Another job well done." She smiled to herself.
(Yosome)
"Yes?"
(Could you please stop f***ing up my story?)
"You do realize that I am technically you, right?"
(… yeah, but stil-)
"So then technically, this is my story as well, so SHUT THE F*** UP!" Then I turned to look over the town. "Now what to do, what to do?" I asked myself, and then disappeared.
–
Gaara's PoV
Gaara was slightly happy today, although you wouldn't see it on his face. He had met a cute girl, and the girl had even asked him out on a date. He didn't know what to think about it. Should he accept her invitation?
Gaara originally planned on leaving the village yesterday, but his village's council had asked him to stay in Konoha. So he had to stay, but he actually enjoyed it here. The air was crisp and cool. The green trees making him feel alive.
The villagers looked at him darkly, but to say the truth, he was used to it, and completely ignored them.
Currently, he was sitting on a bench next to a river, and his eyes were closed as he listened to the soothing sounds that was the river flowing.
Suddenly, the sounds of the river stopped. He opened his eyes, and say that the people had stopped in mid-motion. A kid and his ball were idly floating in midair. It seemed as if time had stopped.
He felt a presence next to him, and he turned to look at a little girl sitting on the bench, and she had a big book in her lap. "Hello, Gaara." Her voice soothed him, and strangely enough, Shukaku stopped ranting altogether, and for once, he felt calm and peaceful both inside and out.
In his quietest voice, so as not to scare the girl, he asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is not important, Gaara-kun. What is important is that I ask you a question."
He just stared at the girl, waiting for her to ask it.
The girl looked over to the river. "Tell me. Have you ever wondered what your life could have been like? How you were destined to live?"
Gaara didn't even think about it. "I don't really care. I've lived only for myself. Nothing can change that." He said in a monotone. "Proving my existence here and now was all that ever mattered to me."
The girl shook her head. "That was then, when you truly thought yourself to be a monster. Now, though, what do you truly feel?"
Gaara turned his head, and looked at the river. Strangely enough, he could see his reflection. Did he really see himself as a monster? "You are right. I truly did think myself a monster. A demon. Someone who craved blood. But now..." he stopped.
"Now, you don't know what you want to do. Now, you don't have a path to pick and follow. You feel lost." She said solemnly.
Gaara thought it over. Was that true? Was he lost? Yes. He had lost his way of life, and he would never be able to return to that. So what would he do now? What will he pick for his future.
"Gaara." He turned to look at her, and he saw something in her eyes. Something that he himself had never had since his uncle. "I think I can help you out." The girl said.
"How?" He asked.
"I can show you a path that you yourself picked in a different world. A world that does not exist. The path you originally picked by Destiny." She said.
Gaara thought about it for a moment. What could he lose? Maybe this would help him pick his own path. "Alright." He said nothing else.
The girl snapped her fingers, and the book opened up in her lap, and unfolded into his lap.
Flash.
His father looking at him begrudgingly, as he always had.
Flash.
A blond man walked up to him while Gaara was wondering the village. The man's words echoed. "You look lost, kid."
Flash.
A new Mizukage had taken the plate. His uncle. He was shaking hands with the blond man he met earlier.
Flash.
His father's funeral. It was quick. No one really liked him.
Flash.
Gaara laying on his back. The Yondaime looking at the seal on Gaara's stomach with a scowl across the man's face.
Flash.
Gaara waking up from his first time to actually sleep peacefully.
Flash.
Gaara opened his eyes from another flash. He was currently in the Kazekage's office, talking with his uncle. "You want me to meet who?"
"I want you to meet the Yondaime's son. The boy is showing amazing skill for one so young. Maybe you can pick up a skill or two from him." The Kazekage smiled.
Gaara nodded. "Alright, where do I meet him, oji-san?" OG(our Gaara) had noticed the life this self had lived. His uncle had not betrayed the younger Gaara, and the boy stayed loyal to him. OG had noticed he had no control over this body, but was forced to experience everything. Like he was a puppet.
"You'll meet him in the park. Now run along. The Yondaime will be here shortly, and you probably would be bored with our meeting." The smile had never wavered. It stayed true.
Gaara nodded, and ran out the door.
Along the way, he met his sister and brother. "Where are you going little bro?" Temari asked.
"Out to play, wanna come with me?" He asked.
Both of them smiled. "Sure."
They ran out to the park where kids were laughing and having fun. Normally, kids would play around noon. That's not true for the sunagakure village though. Since it was hot in the middle of the day, most people would stay inside until just an hour before dusk.
The air cooled quickly at this time, and the sand has a nice warm sensation to it. Kids loved to play in the sand in this particular spot in the village where the sand was the softest, and had no rocks whatsoever. This is where the park is.
The three arrive just as soon as everyone was coming out to play. "Ah! You must be Gaara!" A kid's voice yelled out. Not just any kid, it was Naruto.
Gaara and the group turn their heads to see a blond kid running up to them in a fast dash. "Who are you?" Gaara asked.
"The name's Namikaze Naruto! Son of the Yondaime! You can call me Naruto! And you have to be Gaara, right?" Naruto anded with an excited question.
Gaara nodded. "Yes."
"So, what do you guys play around here?"
The next few hours were spent playing around in the many games that the kids played.
At one point Naruto had convinced Gaara to help prank his older sister. They managed to get lots of sand down her shirt. This ended with both of them being chased around for 10 minutes by an enraged Temari calling them both brats.
When the moon had just become visible over the wall of the village, the parents had come out to call their kids back in for bed.
The Yondaime came around then. "Naruto! Ah, there you are. You have fun?"
"Yeah, Daddy! It was really fun! Can I come back sometime?"
"Sure, Naruto of course. Say good-bye now." The blond man said to his son.
Naruto nodded an ran back to the three who were sprawled out on the ground from exhaustion. Naruto literally ran the three into the ground. "Hey, guys. I got to go now." He held out his hand. "Since we had so much fun together, want to be friends?" Gaara grabbed it, and stood up.
"Of course." Was all Gaara answered. OG felt a twinge in his heart. Like a big burden had been lifted from him.
Flash.
Gaara had walked into the academy for the first day. He had a huge smile on his face.
Flash.
Gaara graduating on his first try from the academy. He had the top score in his class, and everyone congratulated him for it.
Flash.
Gaara was sitting on a bench that sat on top of the wall of the village. Next to him were his teammates.
Baki appeared before the three. "Alright you three. Today we shall get acquainted with each other. I'll go first. My name is Dokuru Baki. I'll be your sensei until you become chuunin." He pointed to the sand gennin to Gaara's left. "You first."
"The name's Daki Seguru. I want to become the greatest puppeteer ever!" said the boy. He had the standard head gear most sand nin use. However, he had a red scarf around his neck, and red sandals.
Baki nodded. He pointed to Gaara next. "Next."
"My name is Sabaku no Gaara. I don't really have a wish, except to make many friends." was all Gaara said.
Baki nodded. He pointed to the last one. "Next."
The girl spoke up. "My name is Hasaen Seirra. Right now, I'm considered the worst in my class, however, I wish to prove them all wrong. I will become strong!" The girl wore goggles on her head, and dark blue light clothes with black in some areasthat covered most of the body. This was to reduce heat as much as possible. She wore white sandals, and white gloves.
Baki nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll be taking you three on your first test run. I want to see how you three work together." With that the man disappeared.
Flash.
Gaara was walking up to the village's gates for Konohagakure. It was just like OG remembered it, but something was different. He couldn't tell what.
After he walked into the village, he noticed something WAS different. The air felt more comfortable then OG remembered. The people had true smiles on their face. Like they hadn't scowled on their face in a long time. The village had more banners, more people walking in the streets. He saw more food stands and bartering for goods was constantly going on. Money flowed more fluently.
Now, to the average person this might be hard to spot, even when looking for it. For Gaara to spot it, who didn't really even care about people around him to see something like this meant that their was a large difference. Much bigger then he realized.
Baki turned around. "Alright you three, be sure be to be at our hotel tonight. Have fun when looking around. Remember don't strain yourselves. You have the chuunin exams tomorrow."
Flash.
Gaara and Naruto were sitting on top of the Hokage mountain. Specifically, the Yondaime's head. They were both talking, and both of them had smiles on their faces.
"Let's promise to do our best in the chuunin exams!" Naruto yelled.
Flash.
Gaara was running through the forest of death. He stopped his teammates, and they looked upon a battlefield.
Two full groups of Kumo ninja were surrounding Naruto's team. On his team were Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee. The three had their backs to each other in a triangle formation.
Naruto was wearing something akin to his father's uniform, but without the vest on. Strapped to his hips were two swords. His headband was black, and he was wearing it on his forehead. His spiky hair went to midback.
Neji was wearing the standard Hyuuga dress code, except that he had a long katana strapped across his back.
Lee was probably the most different from his real world counterpart. He wasn't wearing the horrid green suit. He didn't have a bowl hair cut. He didn't have bushy brows. Instead, he had loose black pants that looked extremely comfortable, but didn't get in the way of his fighting. He had on a dark green loose shirt that had camouflage patterns to it, and the sleeves went to his elbows and hung loosely there. He had bladk fingerless gloves that went up to his mid forearm. His hair was trimmed short in the front, but went just to about midback. Oh yeah, and he had smaller eyebrows.
If there was one thing all three had in common was that all three had hair that went down to midback.
The two Kumo teams dashed in to attack them. The three fought them off with fluent attacks, and grace not known to many normal humans. They attacked and moved as one, and all of their attacks coordinated in such a way that they could all fight at max speed and still not get in each other's way. Gaara also noted that they all used Taijutsu only. No special attacks either. OG mentally wondered how strong these three were compared to the real world's three.
When it was over, the three relaxed their guard. "You can come out now, Gaara." Naruto called out.
Gaara jumped down, and walked up to them. "That was amazing you guys!" said Seirra.
"Gee, thanks." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.
"What are you guys doing here?" Neji asked.
"We came to see our competition." Gaara honestly said.
Naruto turned to smile at his teammates. He looked back at Gaara. "So? What do you think?" he asked.
Seguru spoke up. "No chance I'm getting chuunin this time."
The six laughed. "We're not THAT good." Lee commented. Neji wandered over to two of the downed Kumo nin.
"So, you guys have your scroll?" Naruto asked to Gaara
Gaara smiled and lifted up his two scrolls.
Naruto whistled. "Dang, already got them? Okay then, we can head back to the tower together then."
Neji walked back. "We also have an extra earth scroll. We could help out Hinata's group since they had a heaven scroll."
"Awww, isn't that adorable. Big strong Neji is looking out for his cute younger cousin." Naruto teased him.
"Shut up. We both know she could beat my ass up and down this forest."
"True." Naruto chuckled. "So let's get moving."
Flash.
Gaara was walking down the stairs onto the main floor of the preliminaries. A total of 30 people had passed the exam, and so they had to knock down the number of people. When he got to his starting point he turned to look at his opponent.
It was an Iwa nin. Standard clothing for a close combat type. Gaara narrowed his eyes.
A blond woman with a big bust called out at this moment. "Sorano Bakuhei v. Sabaku no Gaara! HAJIME!"
The Iwa nin immediately jumped back, and started some handseals. Before Gaara could even react, the Iwa nin called out his technique. "Suiton: Tama no jutsu."(Water style: Bullet jutsu) and he flipped a bottle open that was on his waist. Thousands of little bullets streamed out of the bottle, and peltered Gaara's position. Gaara took several hits, but no one even flinched at the sight. The reason why? Because Gaara was right behind the Iwa nin.
Gaara lashed out a vicious punch to the man's middle, and sand stuck to his enemy's body. The man flew through the air and hit the opposite wall being pushed on by Gaara's sand attack.
"Too slow." was all Gaara said. "You're no match for me. Give up now."
"Urg, aye ya stupid brat! That hurt. Now I'm goin' to hafta to pummel ya down!" the Iwa nin dashed forward. When he got in striking range, Gaara's sand wrapped around his fist, and yanked him into the air. The Iwa nin chuckled, and then fell apart into dust.
Gaara's eyes widened as he felt a punch going for his head. Gaara turned around, and OG raised a mental eyebrow. The fist was stopped in midair. Gaara chuckled. OG's eyebrow raised even more. "Sand is controlled by two mastered elements. Wind and earth. As long as I can breathe and feel earth beneath my feet, I am will remain undefeated." With that, Gaara's sand wrapped around the poor Iwa nin. "Now, forfeit."
"Proctor I forfeit!"
"Winner," The blond woman started. "Sabaku no Gaara!"
Flash.
Gaara stood in the middle of the arena.
"First match!" The blond woman called out. "Sabaku no Gaara versus" Gaara looked to his opponent "Hyuuga Hinata!"
Hinata got into a strange taijutsu stance. It didn't look anything like the stance that Neji used. Gaara dropped into a battle stance of his one. His sand floated around him in a strange semblance to that of an orchestra's music echoing through the air. In broken waves.
"Hajime!"
Hinata disappeared, and before he could react, she reappeared in front of Gaara unleashing an attack. His sand automatically moved to his mind to block it, but then he felt pain in his cheek as another Hinata flashed into existence already DONE with an attack. The first Hinata disappeared.
Another Hinata appeared right behind him this time his sand blocked her incoming fist. The second Hinata disappeared. Gaara dropped to the ground, but got back up quickly using his sand. He sent a spike at the girl only for it to be dodged. He punched forward with his fist, and a wave of sand flashed to where the girl would land. Hinata's body blinked for an instant, and then the sand passed through her with no harm. The girl then split into three, and surrounded Gaara. They all attacked him at once.
OG was scared. Not for this Gaara's safety, his sand armor is stronger the OG's. No, what scared Gaara the most, was that this was all pure speed, and the attacks came from all directions. Gaara's sand had no way to counter attack, and as thus was beaten like a Pinata.
"Forfeit." Was all Gaara heard after the beating. Gaara's vision was swimming and he couldn't make out much. But her voice was much different from reality's Hinata. She sounded strong. Whole.
"Why are you so strong?" Gaara asked. This was a test for her.
Gaara could make out a smile in his swimming vision. "To protect my family." He heard determination on levels that even Naruto himself couldn't achieve.
Gaara smile. He could lose to this one. She fought just like him. She fought to protect those who loved her. That was his goal as well. "Fine. I forfeit. I wouldn't of had forfeited if you didn't answer correctly." was all Gaara said.
Flash.
Gaara sat there in a daze. The big book closed slowly. Was he really that much different? Why was his destiny so different from what really happened? Why did the things turn out like this? "Why did my Uncle not betray me?" his first question popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
The girl looked at him as he returned the gaze. "He was ordered to, by your own father. He objected to it at first, but upon the threat that the man would send his own children to try and kill you, he agreed."
Gaara's emotions, which were almost always in check were in a a frenzy. His uncle really didn't hate him?
"Yes, Gaara. He didn't hate you." The girl answered the unasked question. "And no, I'm not a mind reader. I can just read people really well."
"Why was that world so much different then this one?"
The girl sighed. "18 years ago, a man's dream had become twisted beyond any comprehension. In turn, this man's twisted dream twisted other's dreams. He bent them to his will. His desires. 16 years ago, he killed a boy, and twisted his teammates minds to his will. 14 years ago, this man twisted a spirit of unspeakable power, the kyuubi no kitsune, to his will, and had it attack this village. The yondaime sacrificed himself to seal this demon into his own kid. The kid grew up in a harsh life. There is one thing all of these points have in common though. They were never meant to happen."
"Then how did they come to pass?" Gaara asked.
"Will."
"Will?"
"Yes, will. A group of people working together to the same goal, the same willed goal, will happen, even if it was not meant to happen. Evidently, one man who has a strong enough will can change destiny a well. That is what happened here. One man who had enormous willpower became corrupt and twisted, and this is where we are now." She gestured to the world around her.
Gaara nodded somewhat, getting most of it. "Am I really that different from that other Gaara?" he asked.
The girl nodded. "Yes. It's amazing what one man can do to change an entire world, isn't it?" She asked.
Gaara nodded as well. He fit the pieces together in his head. Because that man became twisted, he had the fourth hokage killed. Because that man was killed, his father never attempted to kill him. Since that never happened, Gaara grew up under the oppression that was his father, and as thus, grew up never trusting anyone. Not after his Uncle. But one thing stayed the same in both timelines. After he met Naruto, his world became different. The first one to show him that his path that his father had set was never meant for him.
"Why did you choose to show me this?" Gaara asked. "I know you could've left me as I was, but why was it so important that I see this?"
The girl looked out to the nearby river. "Because, it was important for you to see that the world around you can be changed. If you don't like it, then fix it yourself. Will your own path, as I could say."
Gaara, stoic as ever, nodded, and replied, "Thank you then. I will be sure to do that. However, I have a lot to think about.
The girl smiled. "No problem Gaara. Become strong, and be a pillar to those around you."
Gaara blinked, and then she was gone. He looked around for her, but then noticed that time had started up once again.
He closed his eyes. He certainly had a lot to think about.
–
To be continued...
Holy shit that was long for a single chapter... I was planning on going on, but I think I need to cut it off here. I didn't think it would be this long.
Originally I planned for 25 pages, but here I am at 31 pages. Just damn.
Anyways, Read, review, I have no Omake for this time, and worship the log.
I have a lot to work on... damn yosome. Always making my well planned stories go out the damn window...
Tehehe, you know you love it. Otherwise, you'd get bored
True... but that still doesn't mean you should be throwing my whole story plot out the damn window!
… oh well, See ya!
~Snipa