Disclaimer: Fan of Fanfics21 does not own Naruto or Final Fantasy XIII.
Oh, and if you're curious about Naruto's past and his connection to Nione, check out my Cipher Origins fic.
I am also looking for someone to do my fic's cover. If you know anyone who could fit the criteria and help me out, PM me okay?
Oh, and Naruto went into a different fic for the time being he was away. He was featured in TWGOK: Yin-Yang God as he participated in a unique tournament of sorts (a parody arc) and won. Proceeded to return to his destination losing his memories of that tournament event and fought his future self and altering history as well (Chapter 14: Emiya, Conflicts of the Past).
Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!
He's been gone for a few days. Not a word, letter, or a sign. This led most of the Rookies and one Hokage worried as they looked around for him. When they tried talking to Lightning, she said that he'll be back soon after causing some chaos elsewhere. Where he was, was the question they're looking for an answer to. As Team 8 was taking a break in their hopeless search for the elusive Naruto Uzumaki, Akamaru barked as he picked up on his scent. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino proceeded to go after the puppy as they found Naruto sleeping against a tree with wounds on his body as blood dripped from his forehead.
He was immediately taken to the hospital, and while he was taken there, with Leo and Elo following behind, Naruto dreamt of things of the past…of why he was here.
/Forbidden truths must remain hidden, else mankind would slaughter each other like startled cattle to the feign wolf howls/
In an ancient giant underground cavern, a three dimensional circle flowing with magic was there with a natural furnace dwelling there. A giant cliff hung over as he saw many people walking towards the edge. Weeping as their hollow eyes held despair as their bodies moved against their wills as they tossed themselves off the cliff. Into the soupy, black mud that resembled the ocean as far away on the other side, something was coming, no, more like it was being summoned.
He knew this object…Holy Grail…this one had one function different than others he encountered, it was a cauldron used to create…The Beast. The embodiment of humanity's greed and sins as it was destined to bring forth chaos. But why is…?
He saw it…an eye from the monster's body as it was destroyed by purifying light as the eye was falling to the ground, sinking into the very earth as the eye changed. It took form as the many years went by and…
"No…" Naruto muttered at the vision as he saw what the Eye of the Beast took form of. A monster with ten tails bringing chaos in its wake, the Ten-Tails, the Eye of the Beast became the Ten-Tailed Beast. The ninja world he was in…was created by sins of the past.
/Truth is what helps, and also what hurts. There are some truths, that are better left forgotten for the sake of the world/
He awoke to a white ceiling, the smell of a recently cleaned room, and medicine. "Hospital again…" he muttered as he got up and looked around. It was his room in the hospital, complete with personal bathroom. He tried to move his legs, testing to see if they were weak and numb as he saw that they were not. He proceeded to look for his clothes as he found them neatly folded on a nearby table with Leo and Elo in their gunblade forms, resting against the table. He quickly used the restroom and proceeded to change as he picked up Leo and Elo and tossed them in the air as they magically transformed into lion cubs as they hung onto his shoulders.
He then leapt out of the room via window and proceeded to make his way home. He wasn't sure what happened after he fought his future self, but he needed to quell his mother's wrath because he was aware of one thing. When time travelling or dimension hopping, time moves at different speeds and he might have been gone for a few days already. He could already feel her fists banging into his skull…Ouch.
Tsunade was amused; Shizune had a group of Medic Nin going on a manhunt for Naruto who had fled from his hospital room. They were going around various places they suspected him to being at. One was at Ichiraku's Ramen, the hot springs, and Lightning's ship. She watched as Shizune had a frustrated look on her face as she was just about to give up. "Did you try looking at his house?" Tsunade asked, as she knew that her pupil was mentally smacking herself at the most obvious place he'd go to.
To say Kushina was angry was the least of concerns. No, she was downright furious as the minute Naruto came home; she chewed him out with a nasty bash to the head and one very long hour of lecturing as Jaken cowered in fear of the enraged redhead and hid in the kitchen to avoid the upcoming chaos. "You shouldn't have done that Naruto! Do you know how worried I was!?" Kushina demanded as Naruto kept his head calm as he knew the horrors of an angry woman, but when said angry woman is your mother, you're a dead man walking. He had to tread carefully, because if he says the wrong thing, he might suffer a fate worse than death. "I'm sorry kaa-san," he apologized. "I shouldn't have done that so recklessly, but, it was to help find out who 'I' am." He told her as she paused in the middle of her ranting.
She had eavesdropped on his conversation with Lightning, hearing of how he was a legendary hero from a different timeline or whatever, but his past was more sorrowful than she'd expect it to be. Even though he was a creature of great power in one life, he was still her son no matter what, and she'd be damned if she wasn't there to support him like this 'Cipher Kushina' did. She hugged him in a motherly embrace as Naruto was startled by the action. "I understand, but promise me Naruto…don't do things alone. You have me, Lightning, Jaken, and all of your friends here to help you. Please understand that by doing this alone, makes everyone else suffer." She told him as Naruto closed his eyes. "I promise…" he told her, meaning it as he felt his mother's concern for him.
This warmth, the one he had longed for, and had forgotten, the embrace of a caring, loving mother that was there for him no matter what. It made his heart ache, knowing his sister is out there somewhere in the Historia Crux, isn't experiencing this overwhelming emotion he was. But Kushina knew it, and was waiting for her to come back home, so that they could be a family. For the first time since the end of the Wave Mission and bidding farewell, he cried. Kushina held her son gently comforting him as she soothed the sadness and made it all gently fade away as he slowly fell asleep, definitely what he needed right now.
Moms definitely know what's right. And don't you dare say no otherwise.
"There he is!" came the voice of Shizune as they found Naruto as Kushina looked up with a menacing glare at her and the other Medic Nin who froze in their tracks. They had walked in on a mother-son time and ruining it was a really, REALLY, bad idea. "…S-sorry." She whispered apologetically as she and the others retreated hastily as Kushina returned to the bonding with her son.
Definitely know what's right indeed.
Lightning knew Naruto was the strangest being she had ever met, but this practically took the cake. While going into his memories, he had fought, and won against his future, more experienced self in a one-on-one duel. But what plagued her were the dreams she started having. Ones that held the legend of the one called Cipher Naruto Uzumaki, the Naru-Killer, Death's Slayer, Naruto the Lionheart.
*Vision of the Past*
/There are some things that mankind are forbidden to perform. Human cloning is one of the highest atrocities besides human experimentation. This, was a Sin from Genesis/
Two blue eyes slowly opened half asleep as he looked out of the strange colored liquid he slept in. "Where am I?" he asked himself as he saw shadows looking at him as he squinted his eyes, "No…this isn't the same as before. Was everything before, just a dream?" he pondered as he felt his eyelids grow heavier. "Why…?" was the last thing he thought before falling back to sleep again.
"Doctor, look at this!" a scientist called out to Orochimaru who looked at the scanners and frowned. "Quick, stabilize the boy! Nione will have our heads if he dies on us!" he roared in anger as the scientists ran around, flipping through switches to see what the source of the alert of their specimen, not realizing that it was awakening.
He heard them, the laughs, the cries, and the calling for him. "Those voices…There outside…Where I must be…" he thought as his eyes opened and glowed as the tank holding him cracked and then broke as fluids leaked out. "Tell the boss's helicopter what's happening quickly!" a scientist shouted as Orochimaru gestured him to be silent. "Let the boy speak, his synched link with her must have given him the knowledge he needs to speak." He said.
"Synched…Link?" the boy rasped out, as if his voice hasn't been used for many years. "Yes my boy, as you can see you were our perfect creation. Through our experimentation we sought to create a unique being capable of destruction." The Snake Sannin replied as he gestured to an image of a boy that looked similar to the boy that broke out of his tank. "We cloned you from the DNA of a great hero known as Naruto Uzumaki. Welcome, Naruto Two." He said as the boy looked at the image of the boy in an orange jumpsuit.
"Naruto Two?" he asked, with a strained voice as he felt lost in this world. "Am I just a copy? A mere shadow of Naruto's?" he demanded as the man in front of him chuckled. "No, you are greater than him; we have altered your DNA making you different from him…or those parallel versions of him." He explained. This made the boy raise a brow at what the man said. "So I am the end result of your experiment? So what happens to me now that your experiment is now over?" he asked as Orochimaru chuckled.
"Oh, it's not over yet. Now the real experiment begins now." The white skinned man replied as the clone narrowed his eyes as the other scientists congratulated themselves on a job well done. "These humans…care nothing for me." He thought bitterly as he looked down at his hands and clenched them into fists. He recalled people he didn't recognize as he realized these were his original's memories as they soon vanished just as they came. "Is that my purpose? Am I just an experiment, a laboratory specimen? This cannot be…" he thought as a wing of an angel erupted from his right shoulder blade, pure and untainted as a demonic bat like wing erupted from his left shoulder blade, giving off a sinister appearance as two tails erupted from his tailbone, one black and one white as he looked at them all with utter hate, "My destiny!" he finished as the tanks of other specimens broke as his eyes glowed blue ominously as he flexed his wings, creating a shockwave knocking everyone back.
The machines broke as mechanical arms tried to restrain it, but the energy he was emitting from his body destroyed them as he swung his left arm downwards, as a trail of black flames consumed the people in that direction as he swung his right arm down, calling forth bolts of thunder that obliterated those that tried to restrain it. The whole lab was in flames as Orochimaru was sitting down with his back against the wall as he looked at the carnage with a look filled with equal parts horror and fascination at the sight. In the flames, a silhouette was seen floating as the figure opened the flames like a curtain without injuries from the heat as the boy in front of him was glaring at him with absolute hate.
"We dreamed of creating the ultimate engine of destruction…" he whispered as the boy's face glowed satanically as the energy from his body became visible around him."…And we've succeeded." He finished as the energy from the boy's body consumed everything as it was all engulfed in light.
*Vision of the Past-End*
Lightning never felt horrified in her entire life at the scene. It was all real, but there was something off with that version of Naruto than the one she was familiar with. The one in the vision was…empty, had no signs of any happiness in them, and pure, uncontrolled rage that destroyed everything in its path. The Naruto she was familiar with, had a warm aura around him, a sense of happiness, and at the same time, a human heart. That one she saw…didn't have the capacity to be human. It made her wonder what miracle gave this boy a compassionate heart.
But at the same time, she wondered how powerful he was in his prime. Since his branding into a new L'Cie, his soul was scattered into numerous fragments and scattered across time and space. Was his power that terrifying? If so, then she's nurturing a new form of power only he could wield to his already deadly arsenal. He's like a fungus that grows on you, but the kind you just don't want to remove. Maybe he could hold the key to a few questions she has in the later future. But for now, she had to return something to him. Holding the newly repaired Blazefire Saber spare she gave him, she made her way to his house, sensing him there as she bumped into Team 8 while on the way.
"If it isn't the Rookies that found Naruto, what brings you here?" Lightning asked as they were heading into the same direction. "W-well, we um…" Hinata said, holding a box in a heart shape in her hands as Kiba beat her to the punch. "We came to see Naruto and see how he's holding up." He told her. "I see. I was on my way to his house to return something to him." Lightning replied, holding the repaired gunblade to the side as Shino stared at the blade warily. He wasn't one for words, but his silence holds what he was thinking, especially with what his bugs were saying about Lightning.
The four went together as they made their way through the busy streets of Konoha as Hinata was curious of Lightning. She was beautiful, strong, elegant, brave, and cool. But she wondered…how did Naruto meet her? "Ex-excuse me, Lightning-san." Hinata stuttered out, gaining the Master L'Cie's attention. "Just, um, how did you and Naruto-kun meet?" she asked, gaining the curiosities of her fellow teammates. "That is a logical question, plus, that mysterious new power he wields is not chakra at all. And it corresponds with your appearance in Konoha. So logically, you were involved with him gaining them." Shino spoke up as his glasses gleamed in the light.
Lightning was prepared for this; she knew that they would ask this question sooner or later. "He saved me and my friends from our torments." She replied, surprising them. "Though he was cursed like me and my friends, he still went out of his way to help save us, albeit unknowingly. He pressed on, no matter how powerful the enemy was. He didn't give in; he sought to protect his bonds he made from great threats. His will was what impressed me, which is why I act like a second sensei to him." She explained as Shino pushed his glasses back.
"So this, 'curse' is the source of his new powers?" Shino asked as Lightning looked at him and nodded. "Sharp one," she commented as Shino had a hidden smile, "Yes, while freeing me and my friends, he bears the same mark we once had, while it bestows him great power…it came with a heavy cost." She told them as Kiba looked at her seriously. "Just what kind of cost?" he demanded, no way was he going to let his rival go down from some stupid curse. Lightning looked at the three genin in front of her and decided to come clean with the horrible fate to anyone who became L'Cie. "Eternal suffering as a mindless beast doomed to wander the lands till death, or turned to stone with their souls bound to it and never finding any peace in the afterlife." She replied.
The looks of horror on Hinata's and Kiba's faces were expected, and Shino was calm underneath that hood. Sometimes she wondered if he keeps his emotions bottled up all the time. "He still has time; he keeps fighting his fate, clinging on to hope of finding his freedom. Help him when the time comes, and cherish the times you have with him, because they are limited." She told them as Kiba and Hinata snapped out of their shock as the three nodded. But since this was an opportunity, she might as well ask Hinata something.
"Alright, Hinata, what made you like Naruto in the first place?" she asked as Hinata jolted in shock as they made their way to the forest of cherry blossom trees that were strangely blooming in this weather. "Eh?" Hinata said as her cheeks burned red. "Hey look, you're blushing!" Kiba laughed as Hinata tried to make him stop. "Young love," Lightning thought, "It's beautiful, but at the same time, carries its own tales of sorrows." She mused, recalling the love Snow had with Serah as they went through hard times. Even then, they had that happiness in that strife and their love endured, truly a testament of true love.
"I-I'm not sure, but I guess it started out as admiration at first." She replied shyly as Lightning listened carefully, even though she was a veteran warrior, she was still a fellow woman who should help the younger generation of girls with anything they need. "I was always considered weak by my father, but I one day on the market streets, Naruto-kun shouted his declaration of becoming Hokage, despite being alone and no one to rely on helping him." Hinata continued as Lightning nodded. "So, you felt the similarities with yourself because you also sought for acknowledgement as well, huh?" Lightning asked as Hinata nodded.
"When I was young, I was picked on by a bunch of bullies; he stood up for me as they beat him up and rendered him unconscious. He believed in me at the time, and it inspired me to do my best and become stronger, and to never give up. So I want to catch up to him, to be by his side." Hinata told her as Lightning nodded. Hinata is a good kid, one of those that make it really hard not to like her unless that personality of hers was a fake. But she had no hidden malice of any kind, she was pure white. "I see, but there will be times that you might question yourself, that if following the same path he is going to walk in, now that his goals have changed since this curse had shown him the 'truth'. I'm not sure if he'll still want to be Hokage or not." She told Hinata, while noticing that Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino had their fingers in their ears, as if plugging them, but for Akamaru's case, using his paws to cover his ears.
"I don't care which path he will take, I will follow him to the bitter end, even if he might not acknowledge my feelings for him." She relied to Lightning, "Because I will never go back on my word, because that too is my nindō, my ninja way!" she told her boldly, surprising Lightning at the sudden backbone. This girl truly had fallen hard for the kid from a simple inspiration and then admiration. She was willing to go to hell and back to be there for Naruto. Talk about true love in a new twist.
But how will she react to Naruto's planned revolution? She knew he meant well, from his opinion, chakra is a mistake that shouldn't have been discovered due to the constant use of it in war. But she also realized that people can create new techniques with the right amount of time, something that clicked in her head as a new sense of horror as realization dawn her. What if—if someone planned to create a new technique that could wipe out an entire city, no…an entire country. But at the same time, it would need a massive collection of chakra to use it, something like a…
"Oh, Etro no…" Lightning thought with utter dread as her outward appearance was still the cool headed lady she imposed. She had realized that's why the Ten-Tails was Naruto's Focus. Not only to end the source of all chakra, but to make sure no one can ever use its powers for the likes of global domination or mass genocide. That demon is the center of all the chaos that will soon come to pass. If Naruto's planned revolution starts slowly, it would take forever to finish the job. So he needed a quick way to spread his beliefs on the ninja system, that's why he chose Kiri, because he could use its reputation to amplify his beliefs of how cruel and twisted the ninja world is to make those who have lost so many people from the bloodbath to make them hate the system. The Feudal Lords, who seek to keep their people from any dangers once they hear their demands, would make the law to abolish the system.
"Once again, Naruto's proven his cunning and audacity on new levels. Where the hell did this kid learn all of this?" Lightning thought as they reached the house where Kushina was standing outside, as if expecting them. "He's asleep. But if there's something you need from him, wait till he wakes up." She said in a final tone. Lightning was no fool, familiar with a mother's protective instinct due to acting like a mother herself with a few people in the past; she'll make it quick and simple. She handed Kushina the spare Blazefire Saber as Kushina nodded. "Make sure he doesn't break it again." She told her as Kushina nodded. That was when Kushina turned to Hinata who felt pretty intimidated by the redhead.
"U-um…It's V-Valentine's Day today, so please um…" Hinata stuttered uncontrollably as she held out the box of homemade chocolates to Kushina, "Please make sure he gets them!" she finished hastily as Kushina took the chocolates as Hinata dashed off. "Hey, wait up Hinata!" Kiba shouted as he and Shino chased after her. "You sure know how to scare them off don't you?" Lightning asked with a slightly teasing tone as Kushina frowned at that comment. "It's not my fault that I have that natural talent for intimidating people at times, though she's one strange girl." Kushina added as she watched Team 8 disappear.
"She's a gentle girl, one that has a crush on your son due to him being a…inspiring role model." Lightning told her with a wry smile on her face. Kushina looked at her as she chuckled. "Well, he does have his parent's natural charisma for that. And enthusiasm is part of his charm." She replied as they shared a small laugh. "So, can I help in my son's future revolution?" Kushina asked, catching Lightning off guard at the question. "Because I overheard my son's plans to end this conflict, I'm not what made this happen to him, but I want to support my son as much as I can. He's the only family here right now I have, I don't want to lose him, nor Shana when she comes home." She told Lightning.
"I'll see what I can do, but I'm sure he won't like the idea though." Lightning replied, "And…Shana is a good name." she told Kushina who smiled. "Thanks, Naruto thought of it actually, like she was meant to have that name." she commented as Lightning had a feeling that Naruto did name her that in their first life when they met. His true past was shrouded in fog, but she believed that one day, she will hear of the legend of the Cipher known as Naruto Uzumaki.