Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its affiliated products.
Chapter 4
How often do we ask ourselves, 'What If?' How often do we ponder what could've been, what might've been, what should've been? Often, one so obsessed in the potential, loses sight of what's in front of them.
Coming to from my 'soul recovering' was by no means, simple.
One moment, it was like drifting in the peaceful state of being on the edge of consciousness, not true awareness but not quite oblivion either. The next, my senses roared awake and I had to gasp at the sudden sensory input.
I could feel the soft silk fabric of the kimono I was wearing and the way it was too tight in the shoulder, and the cold hard wood beneath my toes.
I could smell the gentle fragrance of the tiger-lilies I knew Mother-Uroko loved and the scent of something sweet cooking in the kitchen.
I could hear the sound of Old Kenji out in the courtyard dutifully pounding away at his blacksmith anvil, carefully shaping the metal of his newest project.
And above all, I saw Minato Namikaze sitting in our living room gently talking with Father-Murakumo. The two laughed like old friends, and the smell of freshly consumed Sake was in the air.
I stood there in shock, a torrent of memories mine and not clashing in my skull, each side vying for some semblance of sanity. My face contorted from the stress and I barely help back a whimper.
A soft hand grabbed my shoulder and I looked towards it in surprise. Mother-Uroko smiled softly down at me, and a flash of warmth spread through my body.
"Everything all right, Asakumo?" She asked, gentle concern in her eyes. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak until I could remember my own name. I don't think it was Asakumo, but what was it then?
What was it?
Mother-Uroko smiled and gave my shoulder a squeeze, warmth spreading from the touch once again.
"Why don't you help me greet our guest?" She asked gently. I found myself nodding along, almost without input. It was like sleepwalking, in the way my body moved with little thought.
The two of us moved to in front of the worn brown leather couch Minato sat upon, and Mother-Uroko bowed and gestured for me to do the same.
"Bow your head for the future Fourth Hokage." She whispered. I bowed at her prompting, although it was a sluggish thing. Minato just scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.
"I'm not the Hokage yet." He chuckled. "Please, there's no need for all that. I'm just an everyday Jonin." Mother-Uroko rose and I mimicked her. What was going on?
Why was the Fourth Hokage in their-my house? Why was everything so fuzzy?
"A Jonin that single handedly won us the Iwa front." Father-Murakumo remarked with a smile. He leaned closer and picked up a saucer from the table and took a deep swallow before smiling again. "Not many people can do that."
Minato sheepishly chuckled once more.
"You do me too much credit, Murakumo. I was merely one of many doing their best to protect Konoha."
"And that modesty is why you're the next Hokage." Mother-Uroko chimed in, her hand still gently squeezing my shoulder as we both sat down on the other couch that faced the two men. I slowly kicked my feet in the air, half listening to the conversation.
Why was I doing that?
"There's no stopping you two once you get going, is there?" Minato chuckled. "Next time I come by I'll have to bring Kushina along, we can have a real debate then." Minato had a way of flowing with the conversation, laughing and smiling at just the right places.
It was like a dance. And he was the best performer of the lot.
"It still stuns me," Father-Murakumo said, with a laugh at Minato's expense. "That you, were able to win over Kushina 'The Red Hot Habanero' herself. She hated you back at the Academy."
Minato gave the sheepish laugh again and scratched the back of his head, the motion achingly familiar.
Where were the whisker marks?
"She wasn't that bad." Minato argued, a playful smile on his face.
"And don't forget the way you stared at her every day at the Academy." Mother-Uroko said as she joined the teasing. "Half the village knew you had a crush on her."
Minato threw his hands in the air in surrender with an exasperated sigh.
"Is that any way to be talking to your Hokage?" He asked, mock sternness in his eyes and tone. It still seemed intimidating though, and I faltered under his gaze. His eyes softened when he saw how unsettled I was.
Why was I scared?
"I don't think we've ever been introduced." Minato said softly.
"This is our son, Asakumo." Mother-Uroko said, a gentle smile on her face. Minato smiled back, and some of the tension in my stomach unraveled.
"I'm Minato Namikaze. Your parents and I went to the Academy together." There was a twinkle in his eye during his next words. "Say, do you want to be a shinobi when you grow up?" I found myself nodding along fervently.
"I really do." I said. "I want to be the best ninja ever!"
Why was my voice so high pitched?
Why was I so dedicated to this?
"Glad to hear it. We need good and strong ninja to protect Konoha. I'm sure you'll be one of the best." Minato said with a smile, his eyes sapphire dancing with mirth. It was hard to go against that smile.
It was radiant.
Minato sighed before placing his saucer on the table and rising to his feet as quietly as a breeze.
"I suppose I need to get going, Kushina's gonna kill me if I'm late for our anniversary."
"You'd better hurry then." Father-Murakumo said. "Unless you want to end up like Keiji that time Kushina mugged him during class." Minato and Mother-Uroko winced.
"The Tomato incident." Mother-Uroko shivered. "I was scared to even eat a tomato for the rest of the year, lest she thought I was insulting her."
"That was, yeah that happened." Minato answered. "She apologized though, so that's progress."
My parents laughed at his discomfort and he just waved them off.
"We'll have to do this again sometime." He said before giving a two fingered wave and flashing away.
The Hiraishin, but where was the yellow flash?
"How'd he do that, Mama?" I asked with wide eyes, the too high-pitched voice wrong for a reason I couldn't place. "Can every ninja do that?!"
Mother-Uroko shook her head fondly before answering."Just Lord Minato and Lord Second. They are very special ninja that want to protect us."
Almost like a dream I found myself looking up at her and beaming.
"I'm gonna be a ninja just like them!" I promised.
Why did that sound so wrong?
Mother-Uroko looked at me fondly and ruffled my hair.
"I'm sure you will be. But first, off to bed. It's too late for young ninja to be awake." She gently admonished. Begrudgingly I hopped off the couch and started walking to my room. Outside of the sitting room with its white paneled walls, the floor split into three hallways making a cross shaped intersection.
Where was my room?
I should know where it is.
I took a guess and started walking down the center hallway when Father-Murakumo laughed for some reason.
"It's down the right hallway, son, that's the way to the dojo. My, you really did stay up too late." I blushed and hurried down the right hallway, my small feet pounding against the floor.
What was there to be embarrassed about?
Coming up on my left was the door I somehow knew to be my room. With trembling hands I slid open the rice paper door and stepped into the room. The walls were the same off white color as everywhere else, but a few blue colored paintings hung from the walls. The sheets on the small bed were blue, the small rug on the floor in front of the bed was blue, even my kimono was blue.
Wasn't red my favorite color?
I trudged to my bed and fell flat on it, my face staring at the off white ceiling. I knew I should be getting ready for bed but I was just too tired.
I hadn't done anything exhausting today, had I?
I kept staring at the roof, the headache in the back of my skull aching every so often, bringing a wince to my face every time it arrived.
What was going on?
Why did everything feel so wrong?
Why did it seem like I was living someone else's life?
A few moments passed where everything seemed off kilter before a weird sound caught my ears. I rolled over towards the small writing desk situated in the corner of the room where I practiced calligraphy. The floor in front of it looked like someone had soaked it, the wood soggy and almost muddy. It rippled and distorted before something started rising out of it.
It looked like a closed mouth or a,
Venus Flytrap.
The mouth fully entered the room before opening, revealing the top half of a man bisected down the middle. One side deathly white, with pale green hair and an amused eye. The other, black as night with a single green circle for an eye staring at me.
I sat up in my bed and spoke its name aloud, terror and curiosity in equal measure.
"Zetsu."
The pale side spoke, childish laughter ringing in its voice.
"Look how cute he is! I can't imagine how he's supposed to defeat Lady Kaguya."
The dark half sighed before it responded, sounding gravelly and grave.
"He won't." They turned to me and stared, only the pale side's eye blinking.
"Asakumo Kurama. You made a pact with Mother, it's time you fulfill your end of the bargain." The dark half rumbled.
I, didn't know what this thing is, or who Kaguya was, or why my head hurt so badly.
I just wanted it to stop!
Tears started to run down my cheeks, born of the stress that overwhelmed me.
"Look Kuro! You made him cry!" The pale one admonished. Black Zetsu just scoffed before staring its single eye at me.
"Stop sniveling." It growled. I flinched, the tears stopping from falling only by shock.
"It seems the psyches didn't align properly. Pity, that means more work for me."
"Didn't the last time this happened that Scorch Woman went insane?" White Zetsu asked. "I'd hate to see another one go cuckoo."
"Pakura wasn't stable before we awakened her psyche, adding a second in the mix was begging for trouble." Black Zetsu responded. "Why can't they all be as stable as Tobirama?" It lamented.
The two halves of the plant person talked like they didn't even realize I was there. Part of me wanted to scream for my parents, they could stop this thing!
But another half knew they'd just die fighting it. Better let the Flytrap have its say.
Zetsu turned back to face me, its two faces set upon some course of action.
"Kurama, we can mend your mind. Repair the damage so that you may serve Mother's will." Black Zetsu began.
"W-why should I trust a plant person? You don't even have a real face!" I cried out. "And you're sticking out of my floor!"
Why was no one noticing all this noise?
"That's rude. You can really hurt our feelings talking like that." Pale Zetsu chided. "But there's no way you should trust us, but you have too."
"My other half speaks truly. You can already feel the headaches I know. They'll get worse, the disassociation will get worse."
"Soon you'll be nothing more then a rotten banana in the brain!" White Zetsu interrupted cheerfully.
"Shut up." Black Zetsu criticized before focusing back on me. "It's either trust us and receive Mother's blessing, or rot away and squander it. You mortals so cling to life, I have little doubt what you'll choose."
This was, this was really freaky. This plant guy was in my room telling me I'll die if I don't let him poke me in the brain.
Zetsu can't be trusted, but they want me to do Kaguya's will, I can't do that brain dead.
"All right, please make the headaches go away." I said hesitantly. Zetsu nodded as its arms slipped free of the cocoon and his hands formed a handsign.
And then everything made sense.
I said before it was like waking from a dream, this was like that, but times a thousand. Two decades of information clicked into place and I was able to remember my own name.
It was Kirk Walghren, but it was also Asakumo Kurama.
I was both, both were me.
And I remembered.
Zetsu's hands slipped back into their cocoon and the two faces watched me with asynchronous blinking.
"So, did you go bananas?" White Zetsu asked. I rubbed my temples and tried to ignore the headache that was still lurking in the back of my mind.
"No more then I already was the second Kaguya brought me here. But at least I'm me now, so that's counts for something, I guess." I said, my speech flowing freely again. Black Zetsu rumbled in thought for a moment.
"Part of your memories are still reorganizing themselves, it will be sometime before you have access to all of your life experiences." It warned.
"Better then thinking I'm a three year old in fantasy Japan." I snarked. It felt good to be able to use my wit again. It was almost starting to rust.
"How come nobody heard you anyway? I wasn't exactly being quiet." I asked, the question burning in both of my psyches. The eldritch abomination born of a mad god merely shrugged.
"Genjustu." White Zetsu replied. "We're better at it then even you Kurama." An answer that makes sense, but not a pleasing one.
Really that was par for the course in this world so far.
"So what now? You gonna give me a grand quest from your goddess?" I asked. I may not bow to Kaguya, but it'd be foolish to not try and keep her desires in mind, if only to prolong my time in my second life.
"Mother desires nothing more than for you to do as you wish. Her will is spread either way." Black Zetsu answered.
"Funny how we win no matter what you do, ne?" White Zetsu added.
It wasn't funny, I knew funny, this wasn't it.
But fine, I was on my own here. Better that way I guess, Zetsu whispering in my ear was the last thing I wanted.
"We shall be keeping an eye on you, but you shall not see us again." Black Zetsu warned, its pale half nodded along.
"See ya!" The Venus flytrap like mouth snapped closed once again and sank into the floor, leaving not a trace of its presence in its wake.
I looked down at my smaller body and had to bite back a few choice curses.
This would take some getting used to.
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