Disclaimer •• I don't own Naruto and no matter how much I wish that I do, I never will. (sadly)

Warning •• Rated T for mild swearing, blood and violence, and a lot of mental trauma.

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Chapter 2: That's A Rude Surprise

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••••••

Hiruzen was shocked, flabbergasted, horrified-- The truth was weighing down on him, pulling, pulling, pulling.

I could feel the ANBU shifting nervously, their muscles twitched in anticipation and aborted movements. They wanted to put me down, I could tell, but they weren't able to because I hadn't attacked their Hokage or done anything agressive or threatening enough to warrant their attack on my person-- either that or it was because I was a child, but really, I couldn't tell for sure-- maybe it was both.

I frowned slightly, turning half of my focus and attention to my tenant, "Kura--chan."

"Don't call me that-- What is it?"

"I still can't feel emotion signatures in anyone's chakra."

The Kyuubi sighed dramatically, as if dealing with a child - which, technically, he was but we don't need to address that, "Brat, The Bastard went over this before we activated that blasted seal-- we don't know which abilities you've retained since before the transfer, and still haven't checked. Don't worry about it for now-- out of all of your abilities, that one is the most likely to return on its own."

"Ah, he did? Alright, I don't remember that... but fine, I wont bother you about it until later."

"You'd better not, pesky human. Focus on the task at hand."

Jiji - Hiruzen - shifted, his wrinkled face marred into a frown.

Honestly, I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for the way he had taken it. It was information that Hiruzen himself wanted to know, information that he had to know. So, I told him every detail--

Well, maybe not every detail. . .

I told him everything he needed to know-- everything relevant to him. Nothing more, nothing less.

He wasn't taking it well and, in hindsight, maybe I should have layed it on bits at a time, but I didn't really have that luxury. I couldn't waste the time that I had with needless formality. The Sandaime of my time had made too many mistakes. He'd let Orochimaru and Danzo - that damned bastard - go too far. The Sarutobi Hiruzen of Before was quite frankly a total failure.

At first, it hurt to admit that because he was important to me. He was the first person that didn't look at me with eyes of hatred and as much as I knew it couldn't be excused it any way, there was a period of time where I was stubborn--stupidly so-- and I refused to accept that he'd failed Konoha - failed my family.

He was precious to me, yes, but that didn't excuse the amount of mistakes he did make. Just because he didn't look at me like I wasn't a monster doesn't mean he didn'tlet Orochimaru ruin those other children's lives. Just because he treated me like I was human doesn't mean he didn't let Danzo turn those poor children into mindless and emotionless tools.

Did he truly think those children did not matter as much as I did? Or did he really, truly not see how they were suffering? Was it guilt? Guilt because of his inability to help my parents, causing him to feel obligated to help me?

Knowing that I at least had a home-- had Jiji-- while they had nothing...

It made me feel sick. It made me feel guilty. I had someone-- I didn't have a family, but I had someone, and eventually, I gained more friends-- more family.

But the people that Sai knew in ROOT... they didn't have that.

And they died without it.

Why... why should I have gotten it if they didn't? Why'd they have to die without actually living?

"Everything-- everything is gone, in... the future?," Hiruzen asked, his head down.

I swallowed thickly, "Everything."

The Hokage raised his head, blinking away the sheen of tears in his old eyes, "Well then, Uzumaki Naruto, you have much work to do here, don't you? I will see to it that you have my full support until the completion of this mission."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"It's the least I can do, child," he chuckled, and paused briefly as if realizing something, "In regards to your identity, am I to assume that you'll be changing your name?"

I hummed, rocking on my heels because, 'oops, I actually hadn't thought about that. . .'

"Name. . . name. . . what should my name be?"

"Mirai."

"Huh? Kura-chan?"

"Your name. Mirai. It means 'future'-- Never liked the name 'Naruto' anyway."

"That's. . .I'm going to ignore the last part but. . .wow! AWWW YOU'RE SO CUTE KURA-CHAAAAN~ I KNEW YOU CARED!"

"Cut it out, or I'll recind my offer."

"Nope, too late."

I grinned brightly at Hiruzen, "Mirai. My name will be Mirai."

••••••

••••••

"Do you... ever wonder how things would've turned out if you never ended up under those rocks?," I glanced at him, swinging my legs slowly as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon. The deep hues of blue and purple began to fade, and an ombre of pinks and orange colors began to blend slowly into the sky. It was beautiful, despite only a tiny sliver of it being visible.

Obito smiled grimly and shook his head, "You know better than to ask those questions, Naruto. The past is the past and we can't change it."

"But," I chewed on my lip, palming a small stone and tossing from the rocky ledge we were seated on. It tumbled down the steep, rocky slope, clacking loudly, "...what if we could? I mean-- if we were only able to change even the smallest of things... I don't know, it's a stupid idea but... I can't help but wonder."

I squawked indignantly, slapping his hand away when he ruffled my hair. He chuckled, "Don't overthink things, Naru-chan. Besides," his smile saddened, "...even if changing the past was an option... It'd be the last resort.

"And... I know it doesn't mean much at this point, but... for what it's worth...I'm sorry."

••••••

••••••

At first, I thought that the people of Konoha were happier. They seemed to smile more at this time, they were more open, they had more trust in eachother. Children and family alike walked amiably, waving and calling out energetically in greeting as they passed eachother.

It made sense to me. The Uchiha massacre obviously hadn't occurred yet (and wouldn't if I had any say in it). Multiple raven-headed and uchiwa fan bearing backs dotted the large crowd, weaving in between stalls and civilians. They were calm, their heads held high-- there was no animosity directed at them whatsoever-- only respect.

The village was overall happier because the tragedies that were the Uchiha Massacre and Kyuubi attack hadn't happened and, yes, it was wartime but... I guess, despite the horrors of the war, nothing major had directly occurred on the soil of the village-- If anything, I would guess that the war made them closer to eachother. They were more tight-knit-- either because they truly trusted eachother as comrades-- or the war and need for survival forced them to come together, closer than ever before.

It was strange, but the most noticeable thing to me, I realized, was the overall lack of hatred towards me. Nobody was looking at me like I was a demon. Nobody was looking at me with hateful eyes and baleful glares--

No. Their eyes simply flitted in my direction, occasionally meeting my own before their attention was pulled elsewhere and they went on with their business. No judgement and condemnation. No hatred, no disgust. They didn't care. They didn't know who I was, who Iheld. To them, I was simply another face in the crowd, another citizen of their precious Leaf Village that didn't have any direct relation to them, and therefore wasn't of any importance to them.

They didn't see me as 'That Demon Brat'.

I felt... bitter.

I felt so bitter towards them, knowing that the villagers hated me simply because the Demon Fox had been placed inside of me. Did they not question what the outcome would have been if the Fox had been left alone and unsealed, free to rampage and destroy what was left of their beloved village? They had hated me-- they had hated Kurama! He too was a victim during that tragedy. He was forced into submission, forced into the seal!

And yet, there they were, alive and unharmed, hated and spitting upon the one thing that held the Kyuubi in its cage.

That hatred. . . they paid for it dearly, in a way.

I smiled, a bright, cheerful, and convincing thing that betrayed none of the disgust and internal annoyance that bubbled underneath my skin when a plain-looking woman waved at me in greeting as she passed, a gentle smile on her equally plain face.

In her eyes, I mused, I was just another child of Konoha-- an innocent.

Here. Now.

It stung to know that if we were but a few years into the future, she would have been sneering and spitting and muttering many unsavory things under her breath if she didn't simply resort to her fists to convey her utter disgust with a monster.

But, I pushed the dark thoughts away, ripping my eyes from the many faces in the crowd and focusing on the multitude of rather colorful and creatively designed buildings instead.

It was so different. And with my lack of knowledge on the overall layout of This Konoha, paired with my outrageous lack of physical height, I was left feeling lost in a somehow foreign place.

Sigh.

"Well, Kurama? Seeing how the layout of this entire half of Konoha is different than how it was in my time, I'm guessing that's because of your handiwork, right? Did you happen to, I don't know, pay attention to the layout when you were. . . destroying the architecture?"

Kurama gave an affronted scoff, "Brat. I was under the control of The Bastard's sharingan. For your information, it felt like my mind was splitting for the entire duration of that whole fiasco, so no. I wasnt paying attention to the placement of your ugly human shelters."

"Oh, no," I said out loud, a self-deprecating chuckle escaping my lips, "I really am a lost little kid. How long before someone thinks I ran from the orphanage, I wonder."

Kurama huffed a mocking laugh in my mindscape that explicably warned me that I wouldn't be receiving any help from his end. I sighed heavily, hopping on the balls of my feet in a vain attempt to peer over the crowd. Gold sparked in my peripheral vision, and I turned, craning my head to peek at the large sign. I was positioned just high enough so that I could see it despite the many bobbing heads.

'Oh, I know this place.'

I knew it very well, as it was easily one of the places I spent most of my time in as a child. I was bored and lonely most of the time, so I amended that by burying my face in loads and loads if books-- granted, reading became a habit/hobby of mine when I was already well into the Academy-- around the age of eight or nine, I suppose. But, I figured, there's nothing wrong with starting early. At this point in time... Well, It'd help explain the reasons behind any... unexplainable or sudden abilities that may or may not happen to appear in my toddler size arsenal. I'd been walking around for the better part of two hours now anyway, and my tiny, weak legs could use a long break.

"It must've survived the attack by some sick chance of luck."

"That, or it had quite a few powerful protection seals, which would be most likely, seeing as the building itself probably holds some of Konoha's historical documents."

Hiruzen had already given me a key chain that currently had only my apartment key attached to it, a simple black messenger bag, and a wad of cash for roughly two weeks-- just enough to last until he enrolls me into the monthly stipend. Hopefully, I could get my hands on a library pass and snag a few books-- from the Academy section which I did not have the clearance for, no doubt.

That wasn't at all a problem, I could easily maneuver my way around that obstacle.

With quick steps, I weaved into between the legs of many adults, most of whom came way too close to kicking me in the face for my liking. I was panting by the time I made it through, bending to rest my hands on my knees and gulping in a few breaths of air--

Until someone rudely interrupted my recovering session with a loud guffaw, "You look like a fish!"

I whipped my head to the culprit, glaring with all the might of my five-year-old face--which I doubt had looked at all intimidating. Black, spiky hair and onyx eyes peeking through bright orange goggles was what I was met with, and a girl, standing beside the raven headed boy with a nervous expression on her purple striped face.

I huffed. "Who the hell are you?," I snapped, rising to my full (short) height and planting my hands firmly on my (nonexistent) hips.

The boy's laughter died down, and he mirrored my stance, "Well you're no fun, are you? The names Uchiha Obito!"

I paused.

This isObito!?

He... wasn't at all what I expected. I remembered... Sensei... used to say that Obito was quite un-Uchiha like, but I didn't expect... well, this.

"I'm fun when I want to be," I sniffed with all the defiance of a snot nosed brat, "My name is--"

"Mirai-san," came the brunette's soft voice-- (I had forgotten she was there, actually)-- and she smiled warmly at me, "Hokage--sama told us to find you."

I paused, tilting my head, "...Already? But I only left the office two hours ago," I trailed off, a pout forming on my lips. I still hadn't managed to find my new apartment, and I'd gone through so much trouble to convince Hiruzen that I could manage on my own.

'That... puts a severe dent in my ego.'

The brunette giggled, her hand rising to muffle the sound as she looked at me. I made a face, "...What?," I asked, suspicion present in my tone.

She shook her head gently, smiling and holding out her hand in greeting, "Nothing, nothing. My name is Rin!"

'Ah, so this us the girl whose death led Obito on the path of war.'

"Hello, Rin-san."

She giggled again, causing me to make yet another face. What on earth does she think is so funny?--

Suddenly, she was at my side, holding her hand out to me.

I stared at it, "Um...?"

"Come along, Mirai-san. We mustn't keep Hokage-sama waiting!," she smiled.

I stared at her hand for another few seconds.

"I..."

"Oh-- oh my Kami, this is horrifying!"

Kurama's loud cackle echoed in my head and a dark flush crawled up my neck.

'I... I am the Nanadaime, dammit! How-- how have I been reduced to holding somebody's hand like a CHILD!?"

"You are a child now, Kit. Get used to it."

Another giggle bubbled from Rin's throat as I reluctantly placed my hand in hers, pointedly looking in the other direction to block her view of my red face. It was pointless, of course, since she already saw it, but semantics.

I sighed heavily, glancing at the library mournfully. I guess I'll have to save reading for another day.

Obito snickered at my actions, "What happened to all that fire, Aki-chan? Is it fueling that red on your face?"

I pouted, and Rin looked at me before bursting into yet another fit of giggles.

'What's her deal?'

••••••

••••••

The walk to Hokage Tower was relatively quiet - that is, if you were to press your palms over your ears as hard as you can to mute Obito's loud voice. Unfortunately, since one of my annoyingly small hands was held firmly in Rin's larger ones, I was quite incapable of doing so. Obito babbled excitedly the whole way, while Rin nodded and hummed absentmindedly to keep the exuberant Uchiha appeased.

It was... a jarring experience - looking at Rin, that is. She was the catalyst for the Fourth War, the one whose death caused Obito to go completely and undeniably insane, however unintentional it was. Her death and Obito's supposed death were two events that caused the tiniest of ripples to converge into a tidal wave.

Imagine what the effect would be if Rin hadn't died? If Obito hadn't been crushed? Obito loved Rin - and as an Uchiha, losing her made him lose his mind. If Rin had survived the chidori, he most definitely wouldn't have helped Madara with the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He would probably never ever forgive Kakashi, but that in itself would be better than the war reoccurring--

Kakashi-sensei would agree, no doubt, despite how much it would hurt him.

"I have to prevent their deaths first and foremost."

"Agreed."

I sighed heavily when we finally reached the doors to Hiruzen's office. Rin giggled at my expense, mildly flaring her gentle chakra to make her presence known, and opening the door quietly. With a gentle hand, she guided my reluctant self in, placing herself in the back corner of the room after she had pushed me to just in front of the desk.

"Hokage--sama?," I tilted my head, rocking on my heels. Hiruzen smiled lightly, pushing a thin folder across his desk, as if the action would answer my unasked question.

"These are your papers, Mirai-chan," he clasped his hands under his chin as I moved to grab the mentioned item. His lips set themselves in a grim line, eerily contrasting the seemingly soft gleam in his eyes, and he leaned forward as if to prepare himself for some sort of show. "As for your storage seals," he raised a brow cryptically, "Unfortunately I'm not sufficient enough at fūinjutsu to remove the cancelling seals from your arms. We only have one master in the village at the moment-- in fact, he is the one who cancelled your storage seals himself," Hiruzen chuckled. "I've already summoned him; he'll be here in just a few moments to removed his seals from your own."

My breath hitched at the implication-- Jiraiya?

I felt my mouth moving without thought, my body rushing autonomously to grasp at any straws I could, "A Fūin master? That's-- no. Ah, y-you don't need to bother him-- I'm perfectly capable of removing the cancelling seals myself, Hokage--sama."

"Nonsense, Mirai-chan! He doesn't mind a bit."

I couldn't face Jiraiya. Not now. It was too early for me to process that- Please I wasn't-- I wasn't ready to--

A knock sounded from the door behind me, paired with a distinct flare of chakra--

Chakra I didn't recognize.

The door creaked quietly as it opened, signaling the newcomers entrance, before clicking shut, a series of silent steps following until they had reached just beside me, only a meter between us. My muscles were locked in place, refusing to move as they somehow still anticipated Jiraiya's arrival.

"You summoned me, Hokage--sama?," came the deep, soft-spoken voice, again holding a distinct lack of familiarity that somewhat eased my anxiety. As my stance began to melt from is rigidness, I tentatively shifted, my gaze catching the bright shock of electric blonde hair.

Hiruzen's dark eyes glinted mysteriously, "Ah, you made it. Yes, we need your expertise in fūinjutsu, Minato-san."

"Shit."

I froze.

Uh oh!

That's a small cliffhanger...

Sorry, not sorry :)

So, Naruto-- or the now dubbed "Mirai" has the full support of the Leaf Village's most powerful figure.

As you can see, Hiruzen is... experimenting, in a way. Keep in mind that even though Mirai was quite close to Sarutobi in her timeline, this Sarutobi has no real connection with Mirai. So as of now, she isn't a precious person to him, even if he is to her.

We also have a tiny peek in Mirai's past! It doesnt tell much on it's own, I know, but the info will build up over time, I assure you.

Until next chapter!

Ciao~