1st Pov
Three years later (Year 69 (4yaNb) A/n: yaNb is 'years after narutos born')
Village hidden in the leaves, Konoha
Menma: "It's been 3 years already huh..."
On one of the highest peaks of Konohas Hokage monument, while the sun had just dipped a little past the horizon, sat a black-haired, blue-eyed child with a uncharacteristically feral set of whiskers on each cheek
Menma: Their foggy at best, but I remember that celestial being and the events of my nights birth. To think that I would be reborn in Naruto, and not just that, but as the main characters twin brother no less.
Well, to say I was a perfect twin would be a stretch. Ever since the fox spirit was sealed within me, my hair had turned pitch black. A mystery that my mother couldn't solve to this day. Nevertheless, ever since that night many things had changed. With the death of my father, the fourth hokage, lord third had to retake office in order to hold the village together because of lacking qualified personnel. In fear of those who would seek retribution for the deaths of their loved ones by the nine tails hands, the third Hokage had the fact that Naruto was the jinchuriki kept as a S-class secret.
Surprisingly Kushina did not reveal that Minato had also sealed half the nine tails inside of me, only revealing this fact to Jiraiya for contingency sake. Most likely, Kushina wanted to try and honor Minato's wish of giving one of their two children as much of a choice as possible
Menma: A good thing too since Danzo is still up to his old tricks, spreading the info on Naruto throughout the village secretly so as to build the citizens animosity toward Naruto. For what reason I can't exactly remember, but I'd have to assume he wants to use it as a chance to recruit and brainwash Naruto into his root.
Of course, its not like I was glad my brother is persecuted. I'd stopped thinking of those around me as 'just characters' a long time ago. I loved my mother and knuckle head brother with all my heart. Besides, it wasn't like I was free from the persecution either. I was still, 'the brother of the demon' according to many adults. Thankfully, because Kushina was alive and still had many high-ranking acquaintances, the influence of those who wished harm on me and Naruto was limited.
Unfortunately, being the wife and sons of the 4th hokage didn't deflect the blame much, making their family outcasted by most of the general populace. It seemed Danzo also decided to demean the 4ths reputation in order keep us down. The third didn't do much to help, and it was decided that many of the Uzumaki clans assets would be allocated to the village. He did provide them shelter and supplies, enough for our family to survive for three generations.
I huffed
Menma: "Basically we were robbed of almost everything but were given all out basic necessities and told to shut up. While I don't think the third explicitly had those intentions," it was probably the council and Danzo who put things in motion, "but he definitely didn't do much to stop it. *sigh*"
Enough of that however, I needed to focus on the present. The memory's I inherited from my past life weren't perfect, perhaps thanks to the so called damage he suffered in the void, but nevertheless I knew enough about the world to know just sitting around and waiting will only get myself killed.
I didn't inherit the memories of who I was or what I did in my last life, most likely this was what the CB (A/n Celetial being) meant by unneeded baggage. All my past memories only related to the series Naruto and a few other media.
Menma: I have three major priorities now, make contact with Kurama, secure powerful or high potential allies, and finally, leave the village. With Kurama's assistance I'll be free to strengthen myself in almost any direction I desire. The problem is that obviously Kurama himself won't be thrilled at all to help me considering its loathing for humans, gonna need to think outside the box on that one.
Then there's allies, there are a lot of potentially strong people out there, but many were either on the wrong side or put in bad positions. If I can secure many of the soon to be recruited or manipulated characters before people like Orochimaru or other villages can I could effectively make a group that'd help to watch my back.
And lastly, leaving the village. Sticking with the leaf village is a huge no no. Not only is it a prime target for many power houses that would love nothing more than to destroy it. The opportunities to grow stronger are actually limited here as well. Most of the powerful sensei i could learn from either arent available or don't share the same affinities I have.
(A/n: His affinities are High wind, medium lightning, minor fire and water. And a large affinity for yin, I'm sure you can figure out why.)
For a village who's symbol is all about leaves and wind, there were almost zero wind affinity users skilled enough in this village. Kakashi had a plethora or copied jutsu, but other than the chidori and some other basic jutsu he had little mastery of them, even my fathers rasengan. Most other konoha ninja are only proficient in fire, earth, or the most basic of ninjutsu.
The only real exception being the clans who practice their own bloodline jutsus. The strongest ninja in this world however were not limited to a single village. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Pain, Madara, even Obito have all spent years traversing the world and studying secret arts.
Menma: "Unless I steal the sacred scroll I can't proficiently train in some of this worlds strongest ninjustu. Just because I remember the jutsu in this world doesn't mean I can proficiently perform them. However my memory also extends to some other medium, my mind is not limited nor are my options. For the time being ill train my body and Chakra control before experimenting on making something new."
The sun had finally disappeared meaning it was night. It was time to go home
TIME SKIP-NO-JUTSU
Uzumaki Residence (Same home Kushina and Minato lived in)
Arriving at the front door to his family's house
*click*
Entering the house, menma laid eyes on his dope of a little brother, Naruto Namikaze, running around yelling dattebayo left and right
(A/n: since she had two children and Naruto resembles Minato colors the most his last name was changed to Namikaze in his memory)
Menma: Guess mom finally taught him her signature catch phrase today
Menma shook his head with a rueful smile and approached his brother silently before clocking him upside the head
Naruto: "GAGH! WHAT THE HECK MENMA! What you do that for, DATTEBAYO!"
Just for that I clocked him again
Naruto: "Gagh?!"
Menma: "You can only say the same thing so many times till it loses its charm ya knuckle head."
Unfortunately I developed an accent just like the rest of my hard headed family. God help me if I get a tic like mom has
Naruto: "c'm~on, don't you think its the coolest thing?"
Menma: "Naruto I'm gonna ask you one question and if you answer it right ill never hit your head ever again, deal?"
Naruto: "Alright lay it on me, dattebayo!"
Menma: "What does 'dattebayo' even mean?"
Naruto: . . .
Menma: "That's what I thought, I'm sure that as soon as mom said it you started repeating the phrase over and over drowning out what she said after. Didn't you?"
Naruto: . . .
Menma: "uh-huh, speaking of which. Where is mom now?"
Naruto: "oh! She's in the kitchen cooking dinner."
I raised a brow hearing that
Menma: "Are you sure? Shouldn't mom have taken her meds, she should be a little drowsy right about now."
Naruto: "uuuhhh~ I made sure to watch her take em like ya told me to, so I know she did but when I asked her she said she was fine."
Menma: Damn, looks like she's pushing herself again
With that info I rubbed 3 hair, something he took offense to, not like he brushed it anyways, and made my way to the kitchen
Despite the valiant attempts of my father, Kushina did not escape the events of that night unscathed. While her life energy had been replenished that did not mean the Kyuubis forceful extraction didn't do any internal damage to her body. Most of her Chakra points had received irreversible damage, and while she no longer contained the beast in her, that did not mean she was completely free of its chaotic Chakra. One does not become a jinchuriki without having its power imprinted on you. Small remnants of the nine tails Chakra managed to seep into her network throwing it even more out of whack.
Despite the thirds and Janiya's best attempts, no medical nin in the village could heal such damage. The only one who might was Tsunade and she had already left the village by then. Kushina had never been much of a in the field kind of shinobi but with this her days as a ninja were numbered.
Entering through the kitchens open doorway I saw my mother hovering over the stove cooking
Kushina: "Oh! Menma, its good that your home. I'm making a beef rice bowl tonight, I think it'll be my best attempt yet."
There my mother stood, seemingly full of energy. On the outside at least, but she couldn't fool my eye's
Menma: "Hey mom, how are you feeling. You know you shouldn't push yourself too hard." I asked sincerely
Rather than play it off or make excuses, Kushina's face split into an absolutely sparkling smile and leapt towards me, food left forgotten.
Kushina: "Oh~ Menma you're so caring and mature, as your mother I can't help but feel overjoyed! ❤ I can't wait for when you bring a nice girl home, I'm sure they'll be the luckiest woman alive!"💕💕💕
Menma: "oh c'mon mom, knock it off! Your gonna mess my handsome face up!"
Kushina: "hmph, its the face I gave birth to young man, I have all the right in the world to mess it up as much as I want to!"
Menma: I know, even weakened as she is, mom can still turn into her 'Red-hot blooded Habanero' easily. I remember the one time she managed to get out the house using her crutches and spotted me and Naruto fighting off some bullies while the adults just watched…
*SHUDDER*
Even if I can cut down mountains like Madara in the future id still think twice before pissing her off...
Suddenly Kushina began to cough into her hand and I couldn't help but fret over it
Menma: "Mom are you-?"
She raised a hand and waved it off
Kushina: "*cough* its fine, I'm fine *ahem* ill be alright my little man, just something went down the wrong pipe teehee~"
Trying to stick her tongue out and act cutesy, but I wasn't fooled. Even if there was no immediat danger to her life I didn't want my mother to suffer. Most days she could barely get out of the house, and even if she did the citizens would never give her the time of day, ungrateful bastards
Afterward I helped mom finish the rest of the cooking. Just before we finished setting the plates a knock at the door interrupted us.
*knock knock*
Kushina: "Now who could that be?"
Opening the door Kushina made a surprised gasp before letting a easy going smile take over
Kushina: "kakashi, so glad you could join us. I didn't know if you'd make it tonight with how late it got, but I made a extra serving just in case."
Kakashi: "Yeah, sorry about that. Suppose I just got lo-"
Kushina: "'lost on the path of life' yeah, yeah your grade school excuse can work for those suckered genin Kakashi but it won't fly with me, now get your butt in here."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before making his way inside.
I was surprised in all honestly, I don't remember if Kakashi was aware of Naruto in the beginning, but in this world he visits quit occasionally. I suppose with Kushina alive he feels somewhat obligated to look after her for Minato's sake. I get along with him well enough, Naruto won't stop trying to look under his mask, but occasionally ill ask him some tips and tricks on Chakra control. He says he can't explicitly teach me any ninja arts till I'm older, but personally I think he's just a lazy shmuck who'd rather read porn than take the time to teach me.
I notice mom always has a complicated expression when I ask Kakashi anything ninja related. I know she hoped I'd take a safer path, one where I didn't have to risk my life and possibly leave her behind like dad did, but I also know she's happy since I'm following his footsteps, plus I'd be able to watch over Naruto. He's already set on being Hokage and with the nine tails known to be inside him the 3rd would encourage his training. If not, Danzo would most likely try to rope Naruto into his root no matter the cost so that the village would still have its 'weapon'.
With dinner set we all sat down and ate merrily. I'll never understand how I'd look down for a sec and a mouthful of Kakashi's plate would disappear like magic and wind up in his mouth. Even when Naruto tried to stare straight at him, his limited attention span would always make him look away or blink and the food would be gone. With a few more questions and small talk passed around, Kakashi decided to head out and everyone went to bed. Mom gave me one last kiss before going toward Naruto's bed to sleep with him.
Even if he tries to play it off, the hateful glares and words from many of the villagers still chewed at his brother and his mind. Mom knew I was unusually mature for my age but she'd still occasionally try to comfort me as much as she can. It was her own way of coping really, I knew she was still hurting from the loss of dad even after all this time.
Menma: Even though I know its not completely their fault, that emotion and manipulation can make people do stupid things...I can't help but hate it. Naruto can turn all his negative emotions into motivation to grow stronger, determination to be better, and achieve recognition. But I can't stop myself but hating all of them, the people, the councils, the ninja, all the damn corruption. Even if you took Danzo out of the equation this village is full of idiots, this world that lives off of war, hate, violence.
The Moon Eye plan was an overextended mess, a cowards way out from reality. But no one can deny its usefulness in unifying everyone against a common threat. I don't care about changing the world, but that doesn't mean I like how the current world works. I only cared about protecting those close to me. Did that make me selfish, yes, did I care, no.
Shaking those thoughts from my head I discreetly turned my head to peek out towards my brothers bed where he and mom slept. Seeing their soft snoring I knew they were asleep, meaning it was time to try 'that' again
I laid myself face up, stilled my body and cupped my fingers in a circle over my stomach. It was my own attempt to go into a meditative state while sleeping. Even if mom couldn't perform ninja arts anymore she could still use Chakra to a degree so asking her to unlock mine was easy. With it I tried to gently rotate my Chakra around where the seal should be with my hand being the focal point while trying to clear my mind. I'd been trying this for weeks but no luck so far, either I just sucked or Kuruma was actively trying to reject my presence
With one last sigh I continued to practice until my mind began to drift to sleep
.
.
.
.
.
.
*drip* . . . . . . . *drip* *drip* . . . *drip*
With a start I opened my eyes to find myself self no longer in the comfort of my bed, but a long damp hallway, illuminated by blood red candle light
I...recognized this place, if it was where I thought it was I couldn't help contain my excitement and nervousness. I trudge through the dark hall, different from Naruto's seal that was riddled with pipes and a yellow hue, the walls were a dark purple and the lights were red. Rather than pipes the walls had a line pattern similar to puzzle pieces some were actually jutted out of the wall more than others. As I finally made it to the entrance way I found myself in a gigantic hall, and at the end of it a large set of prison doors.
Coming closure, I finally came face to face with my body's other occupant-
?: "Well kozo (brat or kid) you've been banging on the walls incessantly. Now what do you want?"
The Nine tailed fox
Authors note: so for those who think I might be villainizing the 3rd, I'm not. But it can't be denied that I actually really like the hokage, yet he made a lot of mistakes and always put the village first. He tries to protect kushina and the kids with anbu and offering supplies, but because of Danzo and civilian council interference he can't give them any solid position of protection. For those who don't realize, Danzo also used his influence to demean the 4th for failing to protect the village (i don't actually beleive that but emotionallyvulnerable people can do stupid things, plus with shisui power he eventually gets cementing that notion would be a matter of time). Then spreads the info about Naruto being the nine tailed fox vessal so even with kushina alive and the knowledge of who his father is, Naruto and his family is still outcasted, its a similar thing that he did with kakashis father.
I'm also aware that solitude and neglect were a big part of Naruto s backstory and that some people might see the family's situation as still too easy, there will be more light shed on their situation later and how their mentality matures. You have my word on that there will still be dark elements.
For those who don't get Menmas mindset in leaving the village, if you exclude kakshi and any of the sanin, what powerful teacher is there in konoha? Menma will follow a very different path from Naruto in order to accumulate strength faster, in fact most of the events leading up to shippuden will be Menma setting groundwork for the future, as well as dealing with 'other' issues that will be made apparent later. It'll also be quit a few chapters before canon starts,chapter after the next ill explain the method as to how Menma will gather future allies and build connections without leaving the village. Here's a hint, it has something to to with a specialty jutsu only menma can perform thanks to kuruma
Menma and kushina birth and survival aren't the only differences in this world from Canon, like the first chapter stated this is technically a AU but very minor changes
Anyways thats all from me, Bye Bye
