Gravity
Standard Disclaimer still applies.
Flaming Beauty – gah! So many questions! Well, they will all be answered over time of course. And of couuuuurse I'm going to boss them around a bit :p kekekekeke.
endolphins – you are very right. Logically speaking, one would cease to exist once their purpose has been served. However, this IS Naruto we're talking about, and although time is unchangeable in many aspects, certain people can change time… in my story. If a normal human traveled back, nothing would change, however Naruto isn't normal, now is he? Plus, fiction doesn't need verisimilitude, hence why its fiction, I will try and explain some things, but it will be challenging to make it so that everyone understands.
Thank you everyone else who put in ideas and reviewed either this chapter or the last chapter of grace. Thank you!
Seems like 'Arashi' won.
A/N: before I go any further, I want people to know I have purposely messed up the time line a bit. So the ages for certain things are changed.
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"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura slowly reached out to him, but all Sasuke did was shove a piece of paper in her hands, snarling.
"That BAKA! That stupid, stupid baka!" He continued to growl as Sakura read the letter. She sighed, she had been afraid of this ever since Naruto had gone all philosophical on them.
"Naruto said the jutsu he used can only be used with demonic chakra mixed in, right? Who else do we know that could potentially send us back to get him?" Sasuke stopped in the middle of his rant and thought about it.
"Gaara?"
"Hai." Sakura smiled sheepishly at him. Sasuke eyed her.
"You knew he was going to do this, so you had a backup plan… didn't you." He accused her. She merely chuckled at him.
"C'mon, we have to get to Suna as quickly as possible without being noticed…."
"Can we make a drop in at Konoha? I think Tsunade might be pissed enough to send some other people with us..." Sasuke grinned evilly at the prospect of witnessing their former sensei's all ganging up on Naruto.
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"Ah, Rin? How's that mysterious patient?" Asked a blond haired young man, possibly in his twenties. The girl he was speaking to was a strawberry blond haired young girl, possibly around 13 or 14 with hazel eyes.
"He's healing nicely; he just needs plenty of rest. He's suffering from chakra depletion on top of his wounds. Arashi-sensei, why did you stop the training for this week?" She eyed the man. Said man sweat-dropped and scratched the back of his head.
"Well… I was worried, and as Hokage I want to know what happened. There's already an investigation going on, but no one seems to know anything, or who they are or where that guy went…." His joyful facial features frowned as he went into serious mode. Rin sighed and continued walking down the corridor. She was met with the sight of her team-mates gathered by the new patients door. Obito (about 13, black hair and black eyes) in his usual fashion was yelling at Kakashi (13, face mask white hair and black eyes) who was 'too cool for school.' Kakashi seemed to not be paying attention to him at all.
"Ooooobito." Arashi put his finger to his lips. "Shhhhh, our mysterious patient could be sleeping." Obito merely huffed and folded his arms.
"Are those for him?" Kakashi spoke up, nodding towards Rin's bouquet of flowers.
"H-hai.." she blushed. Arashi mentally giggled.
"Well let's go see him since we're all here." It had been three days since the blond haired young boy had arrived. He had been out cold according to Rin. The concerned Hokage and his other two students frequently visited. Each had their own reasons, but they never spoke a word about them.
Rin slid the door open and stared. "Huh?" her bouquet fell to the ground and she ran forward into the room, followed by the others. She looked out the open window and cursed.
"He got away." Yondaime looked out the window and sighed.
"Yush! This is your first c-rank mission as a team under my tutelage. Find that kid and bring him back. Obito and Kakashi you cover the south and west parts and Rin and I will cover the east and northern parts. On your marks! Get set! GO!" he even pulled a firecracker to get them started.
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'This wasn't supposed to happen. Akira's presence changes everything. I have to find a save place and leave-'
'And leave that man here to wreak havoc? Kukukuku petty humans…'
'Then what do I do? I'm not supposed to reveal myself. The plan was to deliver a message with the alternate seal on it. Plus I have no idea what I should do!' Naruto was growing flustered as he tried to lose the ANBU on his tail. It was no surprise that they had been watching him. What surprised him was that Yondaime and his students were also searching for him.
'Humans are so stupid. Just stay and protect them. Is that so hard? If that human kills the one that sealed me…'
'Shit. So many things would go wrong. So many people would die. Shit, shit, shi-' Naruto ducked a water jutsu someone had thrown his way. He turned around mid jump to face his pursuers. He landed, sliding on the ground and coming to a crouched position.
'Gaki, don't call on my power. You're still not healed properly.'
'I know damnit, leave me along you stupid demon fox!' Naruto mentally snarled, nearly missing the net coming down on him. He rolled to the side and avoided it.
"C'mon kid, there's no need to run away." 'Wrong, there's every reason to run away. You're just oblivious.' Naruto thought to himself as he surveyed his situation. Unfortunately he failed to see someone behind him.
"Kage mane no jutsu, success." Naruto's eyes widened. Like the time before the final task of the Chuunin exam when he and Shikamaru had confronted Gaara, Naruto could still move, however his legs were 'locked.' He stood up properly and looked backwards at his attacker. Even with the ANBU mask on, the man was surprised, very surprised that Naruto could move.
Two people landed in front of him, and he turned to see the faces of Rin and… Yondaime Hokage. He tried not to show any reaction, but he found himself staring almost into the face of himself, minus the whiskers. It was eerie…
Rin was wearing a simple white shirt and skirt with none of the fashion of his time era. Yondaime was wearing the usual Jounin uniform, but wore a white cloak with a blue lining inside and red flames reaching skyward on the hems.
Yondaime Hokage, otherwise known as Arashi was having a strong sense of déjà vu, it was almost as if he were looking at a miniature himself, only with whiskers! The boy wasn't wearing the hospital robes he'd been supplied, and instead was back in the clothing he had come in. Black pants, black shirt, brown vest and a strange looking white pendant. Clearing his throat, Arashi started to get to the bottom of things.
"What are you doing? You're still injured; you shouldn't be running about now! But since you're awake, I think it's about time we got some answers." He watched and waited for a reaction and got none.
"What's your name kiddo?" The boy paled before them. The ANBU members were on standby, waiting to see if the kid would escape.
'To tell them my name or not… damn…'
'Tell them your name.'
'What the hell? SHUT UP! Since when did you become a chatter box all of a sudden!'
"Hellooooo? Anybody home?" Naruto blinked to discover Yondaime mere feet from him, waving his hand over his face trying to get a reaction.
"N-! Naruto…" he said slowly, gouging Yondaime's reaction. None. Okay, so he obviously hadn't met his mother yet or thought of baby names. This was good.
"Naruto? what's your clan name?"
"I don't have one, it's just Naruto."
"Oh…" they lapsed into silence, Naruto was still being held by the kagemane jutsu, so he couldn't move, and it didn't seem like he was going to be released any time soon. He hoped this interrogation wouldn't last long and that somebody would save him.
"Right, next question, who was attacking you?" Arashi asked. Naruto eyed him warily. How much should he tell?
"Akira." He answered dully.
"And why does he want to kill you?" Here Naruto scoffed angrily.
"Beats me. He's been obsessed with it for well over a year now." At this Yondaime visibly looked surprised. The kid could hardly be any older than 8, not even! The only kid he knew that was so advanced at a young age was Kakashi, who was already chuunin level. In fact, he thought Kakashi was just… unique. He couldn't imagine another kid like him.
"Right. Well then Naruto… why were you running away?"
"Because he'll come after me. Being here puts people at an unnecessary risk." No more than the truth, but from the mouth of a seemingly 6 year old child it was startling.
"Well we can protect you." Arashi said, scratching the back of his head. Naruto actually found himself getting angry at that.
"Protect me? Not unless your willing to put your live on the line every moment of every day. You already have a war to concern yourself over. Why risk yourself over a measly child?" This probably wasn't a smart move to make, for now Yondaime looked confused and angry, and the ANBU were tense and alert.
"What War?"
'Oh shit.'
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Tsunade was in a pinch. A serious one. Rubbing her temples she called up those she knew would be trustable.
"Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai. Go! Round up everyone that is supposed to be dead or remembers dying and bring them to training area number 12. Got it?"
"Hai!"
Tsunade sat back down with a sigh. There had been just under 100 ninja's just spontaneously appearing with a large number of civilians. And unless Orochimaru had somehow orchestrated a mass Edo Tensei, this shouldn't be possible. She banged her head on her table and groaned.
Just what in the flaming fiery pits of hell was going on?
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"What war!" Yondaime ground out, grabbing Naruto by the cuff of his neck and started to shake him. Unfortunately this broke the Kagemane jutsu on him. 'scary… Super, super scary.'
"The one with… stone…." He gasped out, feeling several twinges of pain coming from his neck.
"Sensei! Stop, his injuries!" Naruto was suddenly very glad for Rin's presence, for Yondaime stopped shaking him and started fussing over his neck wound.
"Oh! jeeze are you okay? I'm sooo so sorry." Naruto mentally filed Yondaime in his 'people who are insane' filing cabinet. How many mood swings did this guy have?
"But… what war?"
"It hasn't happened yet." Naruto realized that by saying this, he was incriminating himself badly. Arashi's eyes widened almost comically, an ANBU stepped closer as Rin took a step back.
"What do you mean, hasn't happened yet?" Yondaime was glaring at him. 'Scary, super, super scary.' Naruto stared at him. He had to make this believable somehow. He reflected back to the chuunin exams when he had fought Gaara, harnessing those emotions, he fed them his hastily made lie.
"I am a Konoha Ninja, but I don't come from the main village. Rather a side village. We were asked to scout the boarders between waterfall and stone by the daimyou of waterfall, since our small village was closest to his. It was a simple c-rank mission, get rid of the bandits… demo..." he paused for dramatic effect. "We were attacked by ninjas. My team and I were aware of the treaty between Konoha and Iwa. However, we did not cross boarders while in Waterfall, the attack was against the treaty terms as far as I'm aware, and thus breaking the treaty is an act of war against Konoha, follow me so far?" He eyed Yondaime. Arashi was stern, serious looking and nodding to every word.
"Who was on your team?" Naruto could not escape Yondaime's suspicions.
"My brother and sister, Sakura and Sasuke."
"Who was your sensei?" Naruto twitched slightly. Damnit. Who could he say without incriminating himself?
"Haku-sensei." It was the first name that came to mind after everyone else's. He supposed it couldn't hurt much.
"Hmm... there's a small establishment there, but I thought it was a Kanson?" He said, eyeing Naruto. Naruto shrugged.
"We were the last ones. Personally I think Haku might have come from Hidden Mist though…." He added as an afterthought. Yondaime looked deeply interested while Rin was standing there wondering what to do. The ANBU closest to them however, gave Naruto bad vibes.
"Why do you say that?"
"My siblings and I were the only ones left inside our village, Haku came and accepted us as pupils, but he taught mostly water jutsus, that's why." Naruto shrugged.
"I don't even recall how I got here, only that I was fighting. How long was I out for?"
"3 days." Naruto looked taken aback by that. Wait, 3 days and he was still tired and his wounds hadn't healed? What the hell was going on?
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"So your telling me that this is all Naruto's doing, somehow?" Tsunade eyed the missing-nins in front of her. They fidgeted beneath her penetrating gaze.
"Hai." Tsunade rubbed her temples. The world of time was beyond her comprehension, or anyone's comprehension.
"Tell me again Sasuke, what happened?" She threw him the nastiest glare she could conceive.
"Right… Naruto took us back to save us from certain death. After that we lingered, and decided to help Konoha out by fighting in the battle with cloud and stone. But, Naruto lied to everyone saying time wouldn't be changed. My guess is that time is changing as we live in it. That's why people are coming back randomly." Tsunade sighed, resting her head in her hands on the desk and stayed like that for a full silent minute. She knew what Sasuke had said was true, but so unrealistic.
"People's memories are starting to change as well. I can clearly remember Naruto now, but before those memories were blurred, as if something was making them unclear. However, now that people are coming back, some of my memories have started to change. I take it this is the same with you?" they fidgeted again.
"Hai." They answered. Truth was, they hadn't even noticed it until 2 days ago when Sasuke suddenly experienced a flashback of his 10th birthday being celebrated by his parents and brother, when his clan had been killed by Itachi when he was 7.
"Not only that, but, Sasuke your Clan…" Sakura softly whispered. Her black haired companion merely nodded. Though Itachi wasn't there, his parents were and his Aunt, however no one else had come back. He had actually run terrified of seeing them in his home suddenly. Tsunade sighed again; frightening enough tears were streaming out her eyelids.
"That Naruto is a huge Baka. And now he's gone back again? So this whole mess is Naruto's fault eh? What next? Our memories change completely and we won't even remember things about ourselves?"
"Iie." Sakura spoke up boldly.
"Our memories of Naruto, they haven't changed at all." Tsunade looked at her in surprise.
"Mine haven't either, come to think about it… its only little things that get tweaked." She paused, seeing Sasuke's angry look.
"Little things?" he ground out furiously at her. She narrowed her eyes again.
"To me, your parents' being alive is little, as I actually didn't know them well enough in the beginning. The changes are little or big depending on the person. But in terms of changes in our memories, their little. Have you had any altered memories aside from the birthday one?" Sasuke shook his head, no. in fact it was the only memory.
"Everything that we have experienced will remain the same. You going off to Orochimaru will be the same, Naruto going off to train with Jiraiya, things like that will all be the same, and those memories will not change. In fact… our memories probably aren't changing; we're just getting new ones…. ARGH! This is so freaking complicated!" Tsunade banged her head against the desk repeatedly.
"Like a double set of Memories, but both are true? If people understand that, there'll be less insanity…" Sasuke spoke up, giving her his best Uchiha deep gaze. Tsunade sighed.
"I think we should go after him."
"Huh?" Tsuande looked up at Sakura.
"We met a few enemies on the road, Hokage-sama. We felt Naruto's chakra with someone else's; that we know is an enemy. We can only assume that they went back somewhere… together."
Tsunade sat there, pale as a ghost.
"J… jesus! JESUS!" she stood, her chair falling to the side as she started to pace.
"If this is the result of going back and changing things only a little… then... oh dear gods. We need to know where he went… and we need to get there quickly. Stay here. SHIZUNE!" Tsunade roared.
"Hokage-sama?"
"Send for Kakashi and Iruka immediately."
"Hai!"
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Naruto opened his eyes slowly and turned them to the side. Rin was there smiling with a snoring Obito on a chair against the wall. He was about to fall over in his sleep. Recalling slightly that this was his last day in the hospital, he sat up gingerly.
"Has anything been decided yet?" Rin nodded, and bit her lip with a small smile.
"Well, Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama still wants to keep an eye on you, so you'll be hanging around us for however long." Naruto yawned.
"Cool."
"AWESOME! So like... what techniques do you know? Can you teach me any? I heard you know Water Jutsu's… how cool!" Naruto blinked before registering that no, it was not a clone of how he used to be when he was 12 but in fact Obito standing right in his face.
"Ah... sure, I'll teach you a water jutsu..." not quite knowing what to say.
"Then shall we go meet Kakashi at the training area?" Came a joyful and amused voice from the doorway. Naruto looked up into the dazzling blue eyes of his 'new' sensei.
"YUSH!" Obito raced out, Rin and Naruto following at a more leisurely pace. Naruto turned to the girl and engaged in conversation.
"You're a Chuunin, right? And Obito as well?"
"Hai, Kakashi-kun just recently became a Jounin though." Naruto was surprised by this.
"Wow. But why are you still on a team, like Genins?" he asked her calmly.
"Simply put, we're still young. That was the excuse they gave us. I'm not complaining." She blushed. Naruto mentally groaned however, god… not another immature girl! Honestly, between the 4, Rin, Obito, Kakashi and his unknowing father… he didn't know if he'd survive. The prices of being selfish.
It was all the bloody fox's fault.
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I AM SO SORRY! I realize that this is a confusing chapter, but please… just bear with me. And…. Try not to think to much on the time traveling repercussions, its hard enough finding ways to make everything work :p and there are supposed to be large holes on Naruto's lie…. And advanced apologies for grammar and spelling mistakes.