Author's Note: Okay, I got some people wondering how Orochimaru was able to revive Tobirama again since Itachi sealed him. The answer is that, after the invasion was over, Itachi released Tobirama's spirit again so it could return to the afterlife. Which sadly allowed Orochimaru to revive him again.
Though, Orochimaru won't be able to revive Minato and Kushina. I've been wondering if a reanimation that's undone because of finding closure can be revived again, something canon has no answer to. In the end, I decided that the answer is "no", because if that was the case, then Kabuto could have revived Sasori or Shin again after they reached closure.
Anyway, with that out of the way, enjoy my take on Road to Ninja:
Chapter 97:
Road to Ninja, Part I
or
Yep, we're adapting a non-canon movie
"Just... what the hell is this place?" Naruto asked.
Because it did feel like his home back in Konoha. It was his room, just like he remembered. But like with Tsunade, there was something... off. An ever present feeling that there was something wrong. Naruto's thoughts, however, were interrupted when his stomach growled.
"Better listen to mom, or whoever that is, and have some brakfast first," Naruto decided, as he got up from the bed, removed his pajamas, put on his usual clothes, and exited his room.
As he walked through the familiar yet strange house, Naruto noticed the pictures decorating the walls. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Hagane, Kaida, him... everything seemed to be in order. Though it didn't take him long to notice that Shizune wasn't like he remembered her: It seemed that Tsunade's lost bust ended up on Shizune instead. Plus her lips were of a brighter shade of red. Weird, given that other than special dates with Shisui, Shizune never uses lipstick.
For a brief moment, Naruto hoped Hinata's breasts didn't end up on Sakura's body.
Upon reaching the kitched, he saw Tsunade once again, finishing her own breakfast.
"Where are dad and the twins?" Naruto asked.
"Your father left early for the Tower, as usual," Tsunade said. "Hagane and Kaida have been out for a mission for a couple days, don't you remember that?"
"Ah, yeah..." Naruto pretended to remember. "For some reason I forgot."
"Like I said, you ate too much ramen last night," Tsunade said, shaking her head, before placing a bowl of cereals with sliced fruits in front of Naruto. "Now eat something healthy for a change!"
…
After biding his not-mother goodbye, Naruto exited the house and walked into the village. At first glance, everything seemed to be normal –he was half expecting the Hokage Monument to be different, but the faces of the five Hokages remained the same–, yet the feeling of uneasiness persisted. On top of that, he felt a strange pull towards one of the training grounds.
"Should I go there...?" the blond wondered, before shaking his head. "No, I should try to investigate this place first, gather some intel, the usual ninja stuff. Also, I need to know if Fu is still here, or if she ended somewhere else. Given that she's from Taki, she might be there right now."
He decided to walk towards his team's usual training ground. Hopefully he would find some answers from his sensei and teammates. Leaping from one roof to another, Naruto reached his team's training ground in no time. And fortunately for him, Hinata, Haku and Kurenai were already there.
"Look, Naruto's finally here. Now we can begin our morning training," the raven haired woman said. Unlike Tsunade and Shizune, she looked exactly as he remembered her.
Something he couldn't say about this fellow teammates. It took Naruto a while to realize that the other boy of the group was indeed Haku. Because he had his hair cut very short, and instead of his usual green and yellow haori with a grass green sash, Haku was wearing dark blue pants and a sleeveless jacket over pretty much nothing. The jacket was open, leaving his bare chest visible for all.
Then there was Hinata. What Naruto first noticed were her eyes: they were still Byakugan instead of Tenseigan. But her eyes were quickly forgotten when Naruto saw the rest of her attire: while she was wearing her usual long lavender and purple jacket, she wore it unzipped. Under said jacket she was wearing nothing but a mesh top that barely covered her large breasts, leaving a good chunk of her midriff bare. Her usual knee long pants were nowhere to be seen, replaced by extremely short shorts. Lastly, rather than her sandals, she was wearing knee-high boots that left her toes and heels exposed.
Yep, wherever he was, this wasn't Konoha. Or at least, the Konoha he was familiar with.
Hinata walked towards Naruto with a confident smile, placed her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on him. "Hey there, handsome," Hinata said in a very seductive and sultry tone, one the real Hinata would never use. "I was afraid you wouldn't come. What took you so long?"
"Well, you see-"
"You weren't seeing another girl, were you!?" she yelled, as she increased her pressure of her arms around his neck, while her Byakugan flared to life. "Because if you let any bitch near you, I'm going to kill you both and-!"
"Now, now, let's not get carried away," Kurenai said in a conciliatory tone, as she helped separate the crazy Hyuga from the scared blond. "Let's use that energy to train, okay?"
"I'm keeping my eyes on you too, you hag," Hinata told Kurenai, as she narrowed her eyes at her. "I do know what people say about how little your husband satisfies you, and you aren't going to go all cougar on my man!"
"Geez, this girl is so fucking crazy! I'm so glad my Hinata isn't jealous at all," Naruto thought, as he rubbed his pained neck. He then took another look at her very revealing yet aluring attire. "But damn, her choice of clothes is something I can't complain about!"
"Heh, you're truly a brave one for daring to date that girl," Haku said, as he walked towards him. "Not that I wouldn't dare to date her either! There's no woman I'm afraid of! Otherwise, I wouldn't be the epitome of masculinity I am!"
Naruto looked at Haku as if the Ice Ninja had grown a second head. The look was already throwing his off, but that was easy to ignore compared to the personality switch. "Epitome of masculinity...?" Naruto dumbly repeated.
Haku's previous confidence crumbled like a castle made of paper, replaced by sheer terror and insecurity.
"What? Why did you say that? Don't you think I'm manly!?" the Ice Ninja panicked. "Is my hair getting too long again? It's my clothes!? I know I'm a bit too scrawny, but muscle takes some time to build!"
"Whoa, calm down, pal!" Naruto said, placing his hands on his panicking teammate's shoulders, as he tried to think something reassuring. "You look very manly indeed! In fact if you looked like a girl, eh... uh... Hinata wouldn't allow you to be part of the team because she'd be jealous I'll left her for you!"
Haku looked at Naruto into the eyes, before he finally relaxed. "Of course, you're right. How can anybody mistake me for a girl? HGHN!" Haku grunted, as he flexed his non-existent biceps.
"Okay, enough chattering, let's get to training already. If we keep wasting time, we won't train until the sun sets," Kurenai said, clapping her hands twice to draw attention.
"At the very least Kurenai-sensei still looks normal," Naruto thought, knowing that he was tempting fate.
The training turned out to be normal enough. At least, normal compared to what was fearing it would be. Hinata and Haku, beffting their new personalities, employed a fighting style far more aggressive than their real life counterparts. Still, they also proved to be comparatively weaker than the real ones. The fact that Hinata didn't have a Tenseigan was rather noticeable when they clashed against each other.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Naruto cast an horizontal tornado that swallowed both Hinata and Haku, before violently expelling them against the ground.
"Ouch... that hurt so much..." Hinata complained, as she struggled to get back, before a creepy wide smile formed in his face. "Oh Naruto-kun, you're soooooooooo strong! That's why I like you so much!"
"I'm pretty strong too!" Haku quickly protested, as he got back on his feet as well. He started to make hand seals. "Let's see what you think about this jutsu I developed! Ice Release: Testosterone Blizzard!"
The temperature dropped suddenly, as a cold breeze started to blow. Snowflakes started to form in the air, as they formed a whirlwind around Naruto. In a few seconds, the blond was trapped inside a freezing tornado, that covered the grassy ground around it in frost and snow.
"Let the manly embrace of my ice ninjutsu freeze you!" Haku boasted, before his brain registered what he just say. "Wait, manly embrace? No, that doesn't sound-"
"Wind Release: Cyclone Shockwave!"
Another tornado emerged from inside the first tornado Haku had summoned, undoing it and dispelling all the frost and snow. The tornado quickly expanded outwards in every direction, forcing Hinata and Haku to jump back.
"Look at the power of that wind jutsu," Hinata swooned. "That's my Naruto!"
"Okay, I've seen enough," Kurenai said, interrupting the match, as she walked between her students. "I don't remember you being that strong, Naruto. It seems that you've been training a lot on your own."
"Hehe, yeah, you know me. I love to train," Naruto said, chuckling awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.
Kurenai then turned at the other two members of her team. "That means that you two should step up your training as well so you can shorten the gap a little. It's not good for a team if there's a big disparity between the memebers' skill and power."
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata and Haku replied.
"Meet me after lunch, and we'll go and see if there's a mission suited for us today," Kurenai said, before leaping away, leaving the trio of teens alone.
…
Not far away from there
While Naruto had decided to check this weird version of Konoha first, the blond was somebody who could be on multiple places at once, so once he finished his training session with his not-teammates, he created a Shadow Clone and sent it to follow that pulling feeling while the real one went to have lunch. After a few minutes of jumping from one roof to another, and some running through the grass of a few training grounds, he reached the place.
In front of Naruto was a massive forest, walled by several fences, and a rather omnious warning sign. It said:
TRAINING GROUND 44
THE FOREST OF DEATH
ACCESS TO THIS TRAINING GROUND IS FORBIDDEN UNLESS EXPLICITLY ALLOWED BY THE HOKAGE
"Geez, I know Hayate and Yugao said that this place is dangerous, but come on, it is that bad?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Anyway, I better go and check what's so important-YIKES!"
Naruto jumped back startled, as a couple kunai landed besides his feet. Shortly after that, a pait of Konoha ninjas Naruto didnt know landed in front of him.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-san, but access to this training ground is strictly forbidden," the first ninja said, as he pointed to the warning sign.
"I'm not even Naruto, but a Shadow Clone," Naruto said. "Regardless of how dangerous that forest is, nothing of value will be lost if I get killed."
"I'm sorry, but our orders are strict. Nobody, clone or not, is allowed to enter," the other ninja said. "I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting the Hokage's permission to send a clone there."
While the Naruto clone was sure he could beat those ninjas –they didn't look to be higher than Chunin– he decided it was probably better not to do something so drastic so soon. So he instead opted to turn around and walk away.
"I'll be back," the clone said.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"
The clone didn't get too far before somebody called him. They weren't those obstructive guards, but a girl, and the shout came from above. Looking up, the blond smiled upon seeing Fu flying down towards him. She landed in front of him with a thud, raising a small cloud of dust when her feet hit the ground.
"Hey, Fu!" Naruto greeted her, smiling widely. "You're the real Fu, right?"
"Technically, I'm a Shadow Clone, but yeah, I'm the same Fu from our world," the green haired girl explained. "The real one is with Shino and the others. Or weird people who look like them. This Shino speaks non-stop! He never shuts up! He talks constantly, never letting others speak! He goes on and on and on... and he will sometimes change topic mid-conversation, to top it off! By the way, on my way here, I saw an AMAZING pair of white boots that were not too expensive. Do you think there will be in the same store in the real Konoha when we return? I'm not a boot person, but-"
"I can imagine how horrible being near this Shino can be," Naruto deadpanned, but let out a lighthearted chuckle. "But I feel you. If you only met Hinata and Haku."
"One of the things I liked about Shino is that he was somebody who knew how to listen, you know? Now I can never talk," Fu complained, as her posture became slumped. "It totally messes our dynamic! Man, this waterfall of truth has one mean sense of humor."
"Anyway, I guess you send a clone here because of a sensation that pulled you constantly?" Naruto guessed. Fu nodded vigorously. "I guess that, whatever we need to face, it's hiding inside the Forest of Death. However, it's guarded and the sentries won't allow us to pass unless we have permission from my dad."
"Guess we'll have to meet him," Fu concluded. "Though not now. The real me is going to eat with Shino and the others."
"I believe the real me will eat with this team as well, as I often do after normal trainings," Naruto asked. "Say, where are you going?"
"Yakiniku-Q."
"Alright, I'll convince my teammates to go there, so we can stay in touch," Naruto decided.
Fu nodded in agreement. "Alright. See you soon."
Both clones disappeared, tranferring their memories to the originals.
…
Yakiniku-Q
Both Naruto and Fu's teams were the first ones to arrive at the restaurant. Once there, Naruto could also appreciate the differences between Kakashi's Animal Squad from this bizarre reality and the real world.
"... before Kiba was slammed against a tree. Our training has been pretty good. Kiba and Tamaki didn't fight as much as they usually do, and guess what? When Kiba smashed his face against that tree, it broke its bark, and I managed to found several green beetles lurking underneath. Did you know that green beetles are extremely rare in the Land of Fire? And speaking of rare, I hope that this time they don't burn my order, since I only like medium..."
Just like Fu said, Shino would never shut up. Both his teammates and girlfriend tried to ignore him as he droned on various topics, but he didn't get the hint.
"GOADDMIT, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Hinata screamed, much to everybody's shock. Not that the aggressive Hyuga cared. "Next time you open your mouth and it's not because somebody talked to you first, I'll rip your vocal chords and shove them where the sun don't shine! YOU GOT THAT, BUG BOY!?"
Shino whimpered something inaudible, as he nodded energically. Despite the display, Naruto could tell by their body language that the rest were thankful for Hinata's intervention. Naruto included, even if he felt kind opf bad for Shino.
"I don't know why you wanted us to eat with out former classmates," Hinata said. She then leaned against Naruto, and cooed: "Next time, let's eat the two of us alone. It will more romantic!"
"Damn, her personality is scary, but how she goes from murderous rage to romantic mood is even more unnerving," Naruto said, trying to supress a shiver.
"Well, I do think that multiple dates can be romantic, don't you think, my little kitty?" Tamaki asked Kiba in a sickeningly sweet tone.
"Of course, my love. After all, all of us here has a mate, so nobody will left out," Kiba replied in the same overly mushy tone.
While they talked and waited for the others to arrive, Naruto could also tell that Kiba and Tamaki weren't the same people he once knew. The fastest way to put it was that they have switched personalities, or more specifically, tastes when it comes to animals. It seemed that Kiba hated dogs and was a cat lover –evidenced by his forehead protector, which he added a pair of fake cat ears–, while Tamaki hated cats and loved dogs. In fact, Kiba had given Akamaru to Tamaki when they were in the Academy, and Tamaki in return allowed Kiba to sign her family's Cat Summoning Contract.
All this led them to become a loving couple, as opposed to the real Kiba and Tamaki's constant bickering fueled by a feeling of unresolved sexual tension that was funny at first but ended up being kind of annoying over time.
The door of the restaurant opened, and a new trio of teens entered. It was Shizune's Medical Squad, and just like with his teammates and Team Kakashi, they were also changed. While Sasuke and Sakura were wearing different clothes –Sasuke's style was far more casual and relaxed, which didn't fit him in the slightest– Karin was the one sporting the biggest change: she was wearing a black leather jacket over a black shirt, a black skirt, a black atudded belt, and black knee high boots. Her hair had several dark purple streaks.
"Hello there, ladies, your man Sasuke is here!" Sasuke said, winking at Hinata, Tamaki and Fu in a very un-Sasuke-y way. "You don't need to fight for me, there's enough Sasuke for everybody."
"Okay, that has to be the weirdest shit I've seen so far," Naruto through, cringing at the Uchiha's ladies' man act.
"Don't begin!" Sakura chastised. "You know, if you dedicated half the time you spend trying to get on every girl's pants to become a better ninja, you would be Jonin already!"
"Come on, you need to relax a little, and enjoy the finer pleasures of life," Sasuke said, as he tried to put an arm around Sakura, which she quickly pushed away. "If you weren't so obsessed with training and being a better ninja so much, people would like you better."
"Ugh, you're... listen, just drop it already, and let's try to eat in peace," Sakura said.
"There's no peace in such a place of death and blood like this one," Karin girmly said.
"A ninja village?" Naruto asked, a bit uneasy.
"A restaurant that serves processed meat," Karin explained. "Do you know that cows and pigs are force fed untolds amount of food laced with chemicals in order o fatten them, before being sent to a slaughterhouse, when they're not just killed, but dismembered, their parts being scattered around the world so we humans can consume them. Their life is suffering, we feed of their suffering, and they're denied the rest of a peaceful death. And this place... this place is filled with the souls of the slaughtered pigs and calfs, that have to watch how we eat their corpses in horror. If you listen closely, you can hear their anguished cries of agony."
"So... I take that you aren't going to order any meat?" Naruto guessed.
"Hell no! I love meat!" Karin replied back, sounding more energic.
As the three members of the Medical Squad took their seats and engaged in some light conversation with those already there, they were followed by another team: Asuma's Tactical Squad. And like the previous teams, one could tell these were different versions of the Ino-Shika-Cho Naruto and Fu knew. While Shikamaru looked the same, Choji was far more fit and muscular, and his eyes reflected iron hard determination, a far cry from the carefree and easygoing junk food lover.
Meanwhile. Ino dressed in a more conservative fashion than her real world counterpart, and while she kept her iconic ponytail, she tied it at the bottom of her hair, as opposed to he top. Her body language and the way she carried herself, her posture was droopy, she was folding her arms and was averting eye contact, suggested a meek and shy personality
"Why did you drag me to this place?" Choji complained. "You know I hate the food that serve here."
"It's not just for the food, but all our friends are here," Shikamaru said. "Why do you have to act as if you're better than everybody else?"
"I'm not acting like I'm better than anybody else, I just expressed my dislike of this restaurant," Choji insisted. "You know, your inferiority complex can be quite grating at times."
"Who are you calling inferior-"
"Now, now, let's not fight, okay?" Ino softly asked, placing a hand on each of the boys' shoulder. "All of our friends are here, let's try to have a good time."
This seemed to have a calming effect on her two male teammates. Still, that display told Naruto and Fu everything they needed to know about Asuma's students from this weird reality.
At the point, Sasuke appeared before Ino almost as if he had used the Body Flicker. A rose appeared in his hand as he presented it to the blond girl as a gift.
"Ah, my dear Ino, you always know what to say to difuse a problem," Sasuke said, trying to sound as seductive as possible. "I know tha behind such shy personality lies a woman of iron."
"Uh...eh... t-thank you, Sasuke-kun..." Ino muttered, as she backed from the Uchiha invading her personal space.
"Hey, back off, buddy, don't you see you're making her uncomfortable?" Shikamaru said, forcibly pushing Sasuke away from her. "You think that just because you're an Uchiha everybody should worship and fawn you? I can't stand you geniuses!"
"Come on, I wasn't-" Sasuke tried to protest, but he was interrupted.
"Sasuke, stop embarrasing yourself –and by extension, Karin and I– and get back on your goddamned seat," Sakura threatened, her voice hard as steel.
"And then they'll ask me why I hate coming here," Choji grumbled under his breath, as he and his team took a seat.
A few minutes later, the last team of the Konoha 15 arrived, Gai's Close Combat Squad. While Neji and Lee looked like their normal selves, Tenten was wearing white and blue robes that gave her a somewhat saintly appearance, and her body language gave Naruto and Fu the impression of somebody that had reached some sort of spiritual enlightment.
Even if on the outside they did look like usual, the finer details also revelaed changes on Neji and Rock Lee. Neji's expression was... unnerving, almost perverse, predatory. Meanwhile, Rock Lee displayed none of his usual youthful energy, and he moved as if the very act of walking required a massive effort. Which kinda reminded Naruto of Shikamaru.
"Tenten-chan!" Haku jumped upon seeing his grilfriend, rushed towards her, and gave her a very passionate kiss. "Hey everybody, my girlfriend is here! Yeah, I have a girlfriend! And I wouldn't if I wasn't so manly!"
"Now, now, Haku-kun, we talked about this, didn't we?" Tenten said in a midly chastising but very gentle tone. "If you let your insecurities rule your life, you shall never be happy. You need to learn to look inside, and find your inner beauty and strength. Which is what I did."
"Y-yeah, sorry, Tenten-chan," Haku replied, rubbing the back of his head. His enthusiasm didn't disappear, though. "Come on sit besides me!"
While Tenten sat besides Haku as the latter requested, Lee and Neji sat besides her as well. Naruto wondered why Neji didn't sit alongside Karin, as he often did. Maybe they weren't a couple in this bizarre reality.
"So, tell me, how was your day? You've been training, yes?" Haku asked.
"I've been training in my medical arts. Because why harm, when you can heal? It's much more rewarding," Tenten replied. Naruto raised an eyebrow. It's not that the real Tenten loved to bath in the blood of her enemies, but she was no stranger to violence, given her passion for weapons. Tenten continued: "My teammates haven't trained either. Lee has been all the time sleeping under a tree, and I bet Neji has been using his Byakugan to watch other girls' underwear."
"Yep, that explains why Neji and Karin aren't together," Naruto thought.
"Tenten, you goddamn tattletale! Why do you have to tell them that?" Neji protested, before realizing what he just said. "Er, I mean... how do you know I was peeping on girls? You were focused on your book all the time, you couldn't tell what I was doing!"
"You were standing in the same spot for two hours straight, and you chuckled perversely from time to time," Tenten replied. "One doesn't need to be a genius to know what you were doing."
"She's right, Neji," Lee added.
"Shut up! You were asleep the whole time! How can you tell if she's right or not?" Neji protested again.
"How can you waste the time sleeping like that, Lee?" Shikamaru intervened. "You should use that time to train so you can soar to new heights! Man, if I only had a quarter of the talent you possess, with my hard work I'll be Konoha's top ninja!"
"Eh, it's too tiresome. Why train when you're as strong as I am?" Lee said with a shrug. Though Naruto could tell he wasn't really boasting, his lazyness was really irritating Shikamaru. "Besides, we're living in a age of peace. It's not like we're going to be needed for any future conflict."
"That's irrelevant! Hard work is a reward on itself! The satisfaction of achieving something with the sweat of your brow! Of moving forward! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Man, it's like they switched personalities," Naruto thought.
"I have to agree with Shikamaru," Sakura said. "As ninjas, is our duty to be as strong as possible and fulfill all our latent potential. Not just for the village, but for ourselves as well. Othwerwise, we wouldn't have any self worth. Everything else is secondary."
"That attitude of yours is why you don't have a boyfriend," Sasuke said with a mocking smirk.
"Didn't you think that maybe I don't want a boyfriend, you sorry excuse of a pick-up artist?" Sakura fired at the Uchiha.
"Being single, being in a relationship... why does it matter?" Karin gloomily asked. "Since all of us will perish sooner or later. It's pointless to care about such trivialities in the face of our impending doom."
"Come on guys, not again," Ino softly interceded. "Let's not ruin this gathering between friends with a fight-"
"Given that everybody is talking, can I talk too as well?" Shino asked Hinata, breaking his silence. "Because I kind of feel a bit left out, and I have plenty of topics to discuss with you guys, as well as many anecdotes to share, such how coming here I saw this guy who..."
But Hinata wasn't listening to the bug user, since she was currently hotly screaming at her cousin
"...and I'm so fucking sick of you right now! You're a goddamn embarrasment to our clan! All you do is prove all that people talking dirty of us right!" the angry bluenette shouted.
"Come on, I've been a good guy! You can't believe what my lying teammate is saying!" Neji replied.
Eventually, the only thing that could be heard in the restaurant was the loud cacophony of the many arguments and discussions happening simultaneously. The only ones not part of the madness were Kiba and Tamaki, who were trading exceedingly sweet and corny compliments, and Ino, who tried, and failed, to stop the chaos.
"Guys, please, stop!" she begged, but was unable to raise her voice any further. "Naruto-kun, please, do something!"
However, when her visible eye drifted towards the spot the blond jinchuriki was in, she found it empty. Fu wasn't there either.
…
Taking advantage of the chaos, Naruto and Fu had slipped out of the restaurant unnoticed. The two of them were enjoyed the relative peace and calm of the streets of Konoha, far away from the insanity of their not-friends. The two of them were now walking towards the Hokage Tower.
"Do you think we did wrong leaving like that?" Fu asked Naruto.
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I think we should have waited for the food to arrive first. I'm kind of hungry."
"Well, that too, but I was wondering if it was right to left our friends behind," Fu specified. "They aren't going to be happy when they find out. Hell, Hinata might think you're cheating on her with me."
"Those aren't our real friends, and that girl wasn't my grilfriend," Naruto stated, shivering a little. "Listen, we both know that whatever's inside the Forest of Death is the 'Inner Darkness' we have to defeat. We meet dad, ask him to grant us permission to enter the Forest of Death, kick the ass of whatever's lurking there, and return to the real world to continue with our training."
Her second thoughts dispelled, Fu nodded enthusiastically. "Right!"
…
Hokage's Office
"Hey, dad!" Naruto greeted Jiraiya as the two jinchuriki entered the office.
"Hello, there Naruto, Fu," Jiraiya greeted them back. "Well, what can I do for-WHA!" the Sannin screamed, as his jaw dropped, while his eyes grew wide, and stared at Fu. "Wha...what..."
"Is something wrong, Hokage-sama?" Fu asked, as she scratched her temple.
"What the hell are you wearing!? Don't you have any shame!?" Jiraiya screamed, as he pulled a blanket out of nowhere, and wrapped it around Fu's body. "That's a direct violation of the official Konoha dress code! And don't tell me that you aren't a Konoha ninja! As long as you live here, you'll follow our rules!"
"Dad, have you lost your mind?" Naruto asked, but deep down he knew the answer.
"No, SHE lost her mind, dressing in a such provokatively manner!" Jiraiya continued shouting. "First you allow a laxer dressing code, which leads to making out, and then to premarital sex, and then to teen pregnancy, and I'm not going to stand for any of that!"
"Of course dad's version of this world would be a total prude," Naruto sourly thought. Better deal with this as soon as possible. "Anyway, we came here because we want you to ask something."
"Okay, I'm all ears," Jiraiya replied.
"We'd like permission to go to the Forest of Death," it was Fu who answered. "We want to test our abilities and strength against the toughest training ground Konoha has to offer."
"I'm afraid I can't let you go there," Jiraiya replied.
"What? Come on dad, we're pretty strong!" Naruto protested.
"Not strong enough for whatever the evil that lurks there," Jiraiya sternly replied. "Not even I'm sure I can deal with what lives there. That's what the best thing I can do is to quarantine the area and pray that whatever's there decides to stay there. So far, it has worked."
"And on top of that, he's a fucking coward. Yep, definitely not my dad," Naruto said, repressing the need to shake his head in disappointment.
"I don't know what made you two think you can take on whatever's there, but I don't want to hear you got even close to that training ground, got it?" Jiraiya warned them.
"Sure thing dad," Naruto said with a weary sigh. "Come on Fu."
"Wait, that's it?" Fu asked. "Aren't you going to-"
"Dad has been pretty clear on the issue. Let's go," Naruto insited, pulling the muscular girl by the arm. Fu complied and let herself be dragged out of the office.
Naruto quickly dragged Fu out of the tower, the green haired girl pulling her arm away until Naruto finally released it.
"It's not like you to give up so easily," Fu pointed out, as the two jinchuriki exited the tower, and walked back into the streets of Konoha. "What do we do now?"
"Who said that I was giving up?" Naruto replied with a cheeky grin. "We're going to go into the Forest of Death, with or without his permission."
"But how? That place is closely guarded," Fu replied.
"Well, thankfully, one of us can grow wings on her back and is strong enough to carry at least one person while flying," Naruto explained.
"Really? You learned to fly to? How?" Fu excitedly asked. Upon seeing Naruto's unamused stare, she realized of something. "Ohhhhhhh, you were talking about me. I see. Still, even if I smuggle us into the forest through air, the guards are going to see us and warn the Hokage."
"Not if we infiltrate at night," Naruto said. "The visibility will be much lower by then. In fact, Mei used this strategy to infiltrate the Crimson Citadel during the Kirigakure Civil War. It worked back then, and it will work now."
"If you say so."
…
Forest of Death, that night
Just like Naruto said, their infiltration went without a hitch. Under the shadows of the night, none of the guards placed around the training ground could see or even heard Fu as she entered into the forbidden forest.
"So, this is the palce. The Forest of Death," Naruto said, looking around. He couldn't see anything but the massive trees surrounding him, since the dim light provided by the half Moon wasn't enough to see their surroundings with clarity. "Man, I wish Hinata-hime was here. She could guide us with her Tenseigan."
"Shino's bugs are pretty good for exploring as well as locating foes," Fu said, looking around, narrowing his eyes as she tried to discern her surroundings. "I can hear many creatures lurking around, but I can't tell what they are. Other than that they're big. And hungry."
"We won't have to worry about those," Naruto reasured her. "With our power, wild beasts are no longer a threat, no matter how big they are. All we need to do is find whatever's the representaion of our darkness, and beat them."
"And I guess that's something we have to do on our own," Fu concluded. She pointed in a seemingly random direction. "That way?"
"Yeah, I felt being pulled towards there as well," Naruto confirmed with a nod. "Let's go."
Naruto leaped to a nearby tree branch, and started to head into said direction jumping from one branch to another. Fu was following him from behind, flying. While they saw some giant animals on their way, such as giant bears, snakes, or insects, it seemed they didn't feel like starting a fight with them.
"I see some light coming head on," Fu observed.
"Me too. Guess that must be the place we need to reach," Naruto said.
The two jinchuriki reached a very large clearing surrounded by lit torches, which provided some nice illumination to the otherwise extremely dark forest. Naruto and Fu landed in the middle of the clearing. The moment their feet touched the ground, a voice was heard.
"So, you finally came," a male voice said, which was deep and unsettling.
"We were getting tired of waiting," a female voice said. This one was also deep, but also snide.
"Who's there? Show yourselves!" Naruto demanded.
"Seems that he's a impatient one, isn't he?" the male voice asked.
"Yes. One might think he was the one doing all the waiting," the famle voice said. "But we better do what he says. There's no need of delaying this any longer."
Two more figures landed in front of Naruto and Fu. The first one was wearing a mask resembling a fox that obscured his face –though his spiky black hair was visible–, his body was covered by a long, dark blue robe with a faded gray fur collar.
The second figure was also wearing a mask, this one modeled after an insect. Naruto and Fu could tell it was a woman given her body shape. She was wearing a black sleveless top, short black pants, shoulder length black gloves, knee length black leather boots, and a tattered cape that reached her rear. She was tall and had a muscular built, not unlike Fu.
"So, if I'm to guess... you're our respective inner darkness, right?" Naruto asked.
The two figures removed their masks, revealing their faces, which were identical to Naruto and Fu, except that their hair was black and their eyes were glowing red.
"Not quite," Dark Naruto explained. "We're your true selves."
"What you think it's your identity, is nothing but a mask, no different from this," Dark Fu said, holding her mask for added emphasis, before lazily tossing it away. "We're you, free of the layers of lies you created around yourselves."
"Whatever you say, guys," Naruto said, as he pulled out and activated his Wind Sword, producing a blade of white wind chakra.
"Quite an impatient one indeed," Dark Naruto said, mimicking the real one's actions, except his Wind Sword was dark purple instead of white. "Fine by me. I'm ready for some action!"
Naruto and Dark Naruto charged at each other, their Wind Swords clashing when they met in the middle, producing a small shower of sparks.
"Let me guess," Naruto said, grinning confidently. "You're going to tell me how I can't defeat you since you're as strong as I am."
"No. I'm MUCH stronger than you," Dark Naruto said, before pushing Naruto's Wind Sword aside and delivering a brutal kick to his chest, sending the blond flying. "Though you got the part about losing right."
"Naruto!" Fu shouted, as she flew to aid her fellow jinchuriki.
However, Dark Fu got in the way, forcing the green haired girl to stop.
"Let the boys have their fun," Dark Fu casually said. "Besides, you can't afford to worry about others given the current situation."
"You asked for it!" Fu angirly said.
The Taki jinchuriki and her dark side engaged in a fast paced exchange of punches and kicks. Each hit that connected producied a thunderclap followed by a shockwave. The two girls started to gain altitude as their brutal duel became fiercer. Their physical clash came to an end when their fist connected with each others' in a particularly brutal way, puhsing them backwards. Both Fu and her dark analogue weaved the same sequence of seals.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The two of them blew a powerful gust of wind at each other. However, both opposing gales carried the same power, and neither was able to operpower the other. Fu tried a different jutsu, but Dark Fu copied it as if she had a Sharingan.
"Water Release: Water Wall"
Both of them expelled a massive torrent of water from their mouths, but just like their previous attacks, it failed to win the other. Fu gritted her teeth in anger, while Dark Fu smiled smugly.
"Like I said before, I'm your true self," Dark Fu began. "That means that not only do I know all your fighting moves, tactics, jutsu and the like, but I know exactly what you're going to do, and prepare accordingly."
"If that's true, then this won't surprise you," Fu said, as she unslung her red backpack, and opened it, revealing a rather large storage scroll. Unsealing its contents, a gigantic oak log emerged from the scroll. The green haired kunoichi grabbed it with one hand, and rested it on her shoulder. "I don't see you carrrying a similar scroll, so I guess you can't match this, can't you?"
Dark Fu sneered. "A brutish weapon for a brutish girl. I don't need such primitive weapon to match you, false me."
While Fu and Dark Fu traded blows above the forest, Naruto and Dark Naruto did the same with Wind Sword swipes. And just like Fu found, Naruto realized that his evil twin was just as skilled as he was, and could counter every move the blond made flawlessly. Still, Naruto didn't get so far by giving up.
"Wind Release: Decapitating Wheel!"
Naruto swung his Wind Sword in a wide arc multiple times, releasing multiple crescent blades of wind in every direction. However, Dark Naruto was able to either parry or dodge them experlty. All what Naruto's attack accomplished was cutting some tree branches.
"Pathetic," Dark Naruto sneered, as he regaining his footing and charged forward. "With such pitiful display, no wonder you failed to save Utakata and Roshi!"
"SHUT UP!" Naruto shouted, delivering a series of brutal swings at his dark counterpart.
Dark Naruto, however, laughed as he parried or dodged all of them expertly. "What's wrong, did I hit a nerve?" the black haired young man smirked at Naruto, making the jinchuriki even angrier. "Look at that, letting yourself getting carried away by your emotions. You won't beat me like that!"
"How about this, then!" Naruto said, as he jumped backwards while pulling a kunai. "Shadow Clone Kunai Jutsu!"
Naruto tossed a kunai at his evil doppleganger, before making a hand seal, turning the lone weapon into almost a hundred. This time, Dark Naruto didn't make any kind cutting remark, but several hand seals, in order to answer the rain of razor steel.
"Wind Release: Cyclone Shockwave!"
A tornado formed around dark Naruto, and started to expand outwards, pushing the incoming storm of kunai away in every direction. When the tornado ceased, there were a multitude of kunai scattered around the red-eyed copy, while their intended target was unharmed.
"Such a basic attack. How long are you going to keep this charade up, and accept reality?" Dark Naruto mocked.
Naruto didn't acknowledge his evil counterpart's words. He merely smirked and made a hand seal. "Sealing Art: Cursed Binding Circle!"
Some of the kunai spread around Dark Naruto started to glow with a blue light, and from said kunai a chain of seals started to form, advancing towards the surprised doppleganger. The chain of seals formed a circle, which started to glow with even more intensity.
"Ha! You fell in my trap!" Naruto boasted. "Now you can't move! You lost!"
"A fairly decent trap, I will concede that," Dark Naruto calmly said. "Though I wouldn't be so sure of your victory yet."
"What are you-"
Naruto was interrupted by a scythe blade coming for his neck, which he dodged in the last second. The blond jinchuriki saw a strange figure wearing a priestly black robe, and its face obscured by a white skull mask with red marking and fox ears. There was a large scythe on its hands, whose blade glowed with chakra.
"What the hell...? Who are you?" Naruto asked.
But the only response he got was another charge, followed by vicious scythe swings. As Naruto defended from this newcomer, he felt the ground under his feet tremble. Years of experience and dealing with Earth Release users made him know instantly the ground wasn't safe anymore. And true to his instincts, something burst from underground seconds after jumping, a giant snake, also wearing a white and red mask.
"What the hell are these things?" Naruto said, as he landed on a nearby branch. From his vantage point, he could see that Dark Naruto was still immobilized, but he knew those seals wouldn't last forever. He needed to get rid of these creatures as soon as possible.
However, before he could formulate a plan, he was alerted by a low pitched growl. Turning around, he saw a masked tiger leaping at him. Naruto had no time to react, and the tiger's rush knocked him out of the branch, and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Shit...!" He cursed, as he tried to get back on his feet, before those three creatures would attack him again.
Meanwhile, several meters above them, Fu continued fighting her doppleganger. She tried to smash her with her giant oak log, but Dark Fu proved to be exceptionally fast and nimble, dodging all of Fu's swings with insulting ease.
"Seriously, girl, you need to stop," Dark Fu stated. "You're embarrasing both of us with this display. You can't hit me with that, and even if you did, you lack the strength to cause me any sort of damage."
"Interesting theory. Let's put it to test then!" Fu said, as she brought down her mighty oak log onto Dark Fu. However, much to her surprise, Dark Fu managed to catch the log on the other end with her bare hands. Surprise that only grew when the log was pulled out of her hands, and casually tossed away.
"You were saying?" Dark Fu boasted. "Honestly, it's amazing that you managed to last as long as you did. Jinchuriki stronger and more skilled than you fell to the Akatsuki. Do you think that's fair?"
"No, it's not," Fu replied, as she charged forward. "But it's not my fault that they were captured! Hurricane Punch!"
Fu delivered a wind-enhanced punch that released a violent burst of air, but Dark Fu managed to dodge it expertly.
"I'm not blaming you. But you have to admit that you're very lucky indeed. You had the entirely of Konoha covering your back. How many Konoha ninjas did die protecting your sorry existence? How many more died while trying to reconquer the pitiful attempt at a ninja village you call a home?"
"Don't you dare to badmouth Taki!" Fu hollered, as she delivered a roundhouse kick.
Kick that Dark Fu easily blocked. "Why? I'm only telling the truth. You've been in both Taki and Konoha. Deep down, you know how a true village must be. Besides, why do you defend Taki so much? It's not that you have people there that like you, other than Shibuki. Your friends and boyfriend are all from Konoha."
"Just because I haven't made friends in Taki doesn't mean I won't ever will!" Fu replied, delivering a combo of fast punches and kicks.
Combo that once again, was also blocked by her dark counterpart. "Keep telling yourself that. After all, you aren't even sure if those Konoha brats are your friends, or they merely hang out with you out of something else. Maybe they just pity you, and deep down they want nothing to do with you."
"Shut up!" Fu shouted, as she made a hand seal, while exhaling a cloud of glittering scales. "Hiding in Scale Powder Jutsu!"
Fu clapped her hands once, and the dark forest was filled with a bright, blinding light. Taking advantage of the sudden light, Fu charged forward, ready to deliver a punch to the head. However, said punch was easily caught by the hand of her enemy.
"Seriously? Are you trying to use such a childish tactic against me?" Dark Fu chided. She shook her head. "If your so-called friends could watch you now... what would they say?"
"They would cheer me on!" Fu replied, tried tom punch with her evil twin with her other hand, but the result was the same.
"Please, don't make me laugh. You met this world's version of Shino. Somebody who speaks non stop and never shuts up. Didn't you find him annoying? Boring? Now think that's how people feel when they have to suffer your presence!"
Dark Fu started to spin her good counterpart in a circle, before violently tossing her down. Fu fell like a meteor, crashing against the ground with a loud crash, raising a cloud of dirt and dust, and opening a large crater. However, the dust cloud was immediately dispelled as Fu shot upwards almost as fast as she fell down. Fu's eyes glinted with a golden light, and they were surrounded by green marks in the shape of butterfly wings.
"Naruto had such a good idea of leaving Shadow Clones gathering nature energy. With Sage Mode, these guys stand no chance against us!" Fu thought, as she delivered yet another punch at her foe's face.
Once again, Dark Fu caught her good counterpart's fist with her hand. Fu expected the hand to be blown up from the rest of the arm due the sheer force, but such thing didn't happen. Dark Fu's hand gripped Fu's fist firmly.
"What!? How can you...?" Fu asked in shock.
"Aw, Sage Mode didn't work?" Dark Fu teased, much to the green haired girl's surprise. "Look closely."
Fu did so, and much to her horror, realized that Dark Fu's eyes were no longer red, but golden, and had green marks around the eyes shaped like butterfly wings.
"You have Sage Mode too!?" Fu asked in shock.
"Weren't you listening to me at the beginning of the fight? I'm the real you. Everything you do, I can do better. Sage Mode included," Dark Fu boasted, as her grip around Fu's fist tightened. "It would do you some good if you listened once in a while instead of talking all the time!"
Dark Fu then grabbed Fu's wrist with her other hand, pulled her violently, and tossede her against a nearby tree. The impact was so brutal, it blew a hole on the tree, caused its upper part to topple down.
Meanwhile, Naruto, already in Sage Mode as well, was fending off Dark Naruto's masked beasts, when he saw Fu being brutally tossed against a tree. He didn't see where she landed, though she could sense she was still alive.
"FU!" Naruto yelled, while kicking the masked tiger, hurling it against a tree.
"Spiraling Ring of Terror!"
Naruto saw a dark purple sphere of chakra with pure white rings circling around it flying against him. Pumping chakra into his feet, the blond jumped just in time before the attack connected, creating a big explosion that carved a large crater into the ground, while oblitareating the trees, rocks and bushes around the blast zone.
"Wow... such power..." Naruto said in awe, before landing on the grass.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Dark Naruto proudly said. "And that's nothing but a smidge of my actual power. Though I must thank you for using Sage Mode. With it, my jutsu can reach an even greater level."
"What the...?" Naruto asked, upon noticing Dark Naruto's golden eyes and orange marks around them. "You can use Sage Mode too!?"
"I believe we already went through this," the evil doppleganger said. He made a hand seal. "Time to end this nonsense!"
The three masked creatures from before landed behind Naruto, while six more landed around him. Some of them were more animals, like one who looked like a bird and another that resembled a mix between a dragon and a seahorse, though the others appeared to be human.
"If you think numbers are on your side, then think again! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto made his favorite hand seal, and a hundred clones appeared besides him. Albeit none of them had Sage Mode like the original.
"You must think I'm impressed," Dark Naruto deadpanned, as he mimicked Naruto, and created another hundred clones of his own. "Everybody, attack!"
Both armies of clones and the nine masked creatures charged forwards, clashing in the middle, resulting in a brutal melee battle. The air was filled by a cacophony of shouts, yells, and stell clashing against steel as both armies fought relentlessly.
"This is just a distraction. If I can reach the real one, it will be over," Naruto thought, before making several hand seals. "Wind Release: Riding the Hurricane!"
A tornado former around Naruto's legs as he started to elevate above the crowd. However, before he could gain more altitude, a white translucent ribbon wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to it.
"What the...?" Naruto asked, looking at the source of the deceptively strong bind, and saw it was one of the masked creatures. This one, another humanoid dressed like a priestess. He tried to struggle, but was unable to. "Hey, a little help over here!"
Some of the clones heard Naruto's plea and tried to get closer in order to release him, but sadly they were cut down by the Dark Naruto clones and some of the remaining masked creatures. To add to his distress, he saw Fu's battered body crashing into the ground near the battlefield, with her evil counterpart happily landing besides her. Then, she grabbed the green haired girl's neck, and in one swift motion, she snapped it.
"NO!" Naruto screamed.
Fu's dropped with a thud, and it instantly turned into a cloud of glowing white dust that dispelled in a few seconds.
"Guess that this one couldn't defeat the darkness within her," Dark Fu said in a mocking tone. She then looked at the ongoing battle. "So, are you going to finish him already, or what?"
"Yeah, just give me a second," Dark Naruto said, as he walked towards the immobile Naruto. "This one can't beat his darkness either."
"Shut up! This is nothing! I can still beat you!" Naruto shouted as he futilely tried to break free of his bindings.
"Because you're so good, right? Because you think you're the hero that will save your village," Dark Naruto sneered. "You abandoned your friends when you found them annoying. And ignored your father when he warned you that you'll only find death coming here."
"Those weren't the real versions of my friends or my dad! I would never do that to them!" Naruto protested.
"They're as real as I am," the black haired young man said, as he extended a hand. Another purple sphere with white rings formed around his fingers. "Sorry Naruto, but you can't defeat me. Now perish. Spiraling Ring of Terror!"
In a split second, Dark Naruto crossed the distance that separated them and smashed his jutsu into Naruto's chest, resulting in a massive explosion. And after that... nothing.
…
Real World
"Wha!"
"Aaaaaah!"
Naruto and Fu screamed, before scanning their surroundings, and realized that they were no longer in the Forest of Death. Instead, they were back on the small island in the lake of the Falls of Truth. Naruto instinctively reached his hand to his chest, and Fu to her neck. Both of them found much to their relief that they were okay.
"Hey!" Motoi's voice called, as he ran towards them. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Naruto replied, still processing what happened.
"Hey, how is that it suddenly became daytime?" Fu asked, looking at the bright sky.
Motoi couldn't help but chuckle. "Because in the mental world you've been in, time passes differently. I take you've been a whole day inside the mental world, right? However, from our point of view, only a couple minutes passed."
"I see," Naruto replied.
"Don't worry if you didn't got it on your first try, your inner darkness is no small fry!" Killer B rapped as he joined them.
"How did you know we failed?" Fu asked.
"You sour faces are easy to read, it's easy to tell that you didn't do the deed," Killer B replied. "But you don't have to worry, you can try again, there's no reason to be sorry!"
"But first you should try to rest a bit," Motoi helpfully offered. "The experience must have been draining. Trying immediately won't net you better results."
"Sure thing, Motoi-san," Naruto said, as he got up and started to walk away. "Fu, you coming?"
"Yeah," Fu said, her voice lacking her usual enthusiasm.
As the Konoha and Taki jinchuriki walked away, the two Kumo ninja watched them. They could see their body language was nothing like how they were before taking the trial. The energy they carried themselves with was nowhere to be found. Whatever happened in that mental world had crushed them.
"Facing their inner darkness nearly broke them," Motoi observed. "Let's hope they can suceed with time. I don't think we can win this war without their power."
The normally talkative Kumo ninja remained silent, merely observing his fellow jinchuriki walking away.
Author's Note: And thus, Naruto and Fu failed at their first attempt at defeating their inner darkness. You didn't expect to succeed at their first try, did you? That's not something it can be beat with brute force alone. Though, the key to beat them isn't the same as in canon (I wanted to be a little original), and I dropped a few hints over what they need to do to win.
So, what do you think about my take on the alternate Konoha 15? Some of them were the same as in the movie because I loved them (Hinata and Sasuke were my favorites), others were changed because I didn't like much (like Lee or Shino), and others, like Sakura or Haku, had to create from the ground up since they didn't exist. Don't worry, if you want to see more of them, they will be back the next chapter.
Originally, I had the idea of featuring an alive Minato and Kushina like in the movie (though Minato would still be the Hokage), but given that this Naruto hasn't meet his biological parents in person yet, meeting a pair of fakes first would cheapen the moment. Plus that allowed me to use an alternate Jiraiya, and I loved to write a Jiraiya that's a super prude when it comes to women XD
Thanks to Ookami88 for betareading this chapter.
Anyway, how do you like the first half of my version of Road to Ninja? How about the alternate Konoha 15, do you like them? Which one is your favorite? Tell me your thoughts in a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!