Chapter Three: Tapestry

Years and years passed.

As they did, Naruto Uzumaki lived through the invasion of the Sound and other hectic times. Until at last, he woke up and found himself lying down in an unfamiliar apartment. Bringing one hand to his face, Naruto could not feel his whiskers. Standing up, he made his way to the bathroom and looked inside.

Naruto hardly recognized himself. His hair was black as night and kept in a different style. His body had none of the muscle that he'd had before, and he felt weaker. Far weaker. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Getting dressed quickly, he didn't see a Leaf Village Headband anywhere. Eventually, he gave up looking for it and got the door. On the other side was Ayame, of the Ramen Shop, who was smiling. "Hey, Minato, I'm just here to make sure you get to work on time."

Naruto blinked.

"Minato? Are you alright?" asked Ayame.

"Huh, Ayame, who is this Minato guy?" asked Naruto.

"You are Minato, silly," said Ayame.

"What, no, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," said Naruto.

Ayame blinked. "...You haven't used that name in years, Minato."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"...Are you okay?" asked Ayame.

"Nothing, I just..." Naruto paused. "Could you fill me in on what's going on with the Leaf?"

"Well um..." said Ayame, "the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan killed off two members of the Akatsuki, Hidan, and Kakazu, I think. Though Choji Akimichi was killed."

"Choji's dead?" asked Naruto, feeling like he'd been struck.

"Have you met him? I didn't think you got out much at all these days?" asked Ayame. "Are you okay? Do you want to take today off?"

"...Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just remind me what's on the agenda," said Naruto. This was... weird. Really weird. Maybe some trick by Orochimaru.

"Right," said Ayame, offering him some boxes. "I need you to help me get some ingredients, Ichiraku Tsukemen, so Dad can get things started. I've got to get some of the other stuff."

"Hang on, Ichiraku Tsukemen? I thought that was a phase," said Naruto. A very ill-advised phase.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" asked Ayame. "You didn't say anything about it being a phase. If you had an objection to changing how we did our business, you should have voiced it months ago."

"Oh, right, I guess I missed my chance," said Naruto, just deciding not to question it at the moment. He had bigger fish to fry.

Naruto followed Ayame on her shopping trips. As it turned out, though, no one looked twice at him. He wondered if any of them even recognized him because some were outright friendly. But Naruto was... troubled by what he'd heard.

And more troubled by how Ayame didn't think it was a big deal. Choji used to go to Ichiraku Ramen all the time. "...What is going on here?" Thought Minato to himself. "I mean, Choji dead. Why wasn't I there?"

Eventually, they arrived at Ichiraku and delivered the goods. The old man smiled as he saw them. "Oh, Ayame, Minato, you're here. Good, I was afraid I'd have to set up late. You know, I've got a really good feeling about this switch. We've nearly got our customer base up to our old levels, and I'm sure that we'll get even bigger later."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we will," said Naruto.

"You're a bit more talkative than normal, Minato," said Ichiraku.

Wait, he was being more talkative? He'd hardly said three sentences today. "Why did I change my name to Minato anyway? I mean, what was wrong with my old name."

"You wanted to work at the stand, remember?" asked Ayame. "The academy didn't work out for you at all, and you wanted to become a Ramen Chef. But Dad was afraid that people would shun our business if we had you working for us visibly. So you dyed your hair black, shaved your whiskers. Then you asked the Hokage for a new apartment and called yourself Minato.

"It actually worked, amazingly. Nobody gives you any trouble anymore."

"Wait a minute, you're telling me I... I just gave up my entire identity just like that?" asked Naruto. "That you switched Ichiraku to a Tsukemen place, and I didn't even protest?"

"I didn't think you had a problem with it," said Ayame. "Oh, Dad, did you hear the news? Neji Hyuga has become the heir to the Hyuga Clan."

"What..." Naruto felt a sense of whiplash at how quickly she changed subjects. Well, of course, she did; he never asserted himself. "How did that happen?"

"Well... um... Hanabi, the normal heir, was found having drowned in a river," said Ayame. "Nobody found any evidence of murder, but um...

"It was really convenient."

Naruto had never met Hanabi, but Hinata had known her. "What about Hinata? I mean, shouldn't she be the heir?"

"Who?" asked Ayame.

"Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga," said Naruto.

"...Didn't the poor girl commit suicide after being disowned and beaten by her younger sister?" asked Ichiraku.

"What?!" said Naruto. "But why would she..." Hinata had committed suicide? Why? Hadn't he...

Why had he left the academy?

"Minato, you look really out of it," said Ayame. "Do you want to take the day off?"

"Yeah, I... yeah, I think I should," said Naruto.

"Alright, we'll hold down the fort, okay," said Ayame.

Naruto turned and walked off, feeling horrible. Choji and Hinata dead, and he'd dropped out of the academy. What was going on here? What had he done wrong? Last time he'd checked, he'd planned to work really hard and win everyone over?

What had happened to that?

And then he passed Neji and Tenten. Though Naruto had to do a double-take when looking at Neji. He was smiling, and it was not a pleasant smile. It was the sort of smirk Naruto had seen on terrible men who had done something unforgivable. And were convinced that they'd get away with it.

Naruto usually met that kind of smirk with a Rasengan to the face. But Neji wasn't doing anything but walking with his hands in his pockets. Didn't he care that his cousin was dead?

"So, Neji, condolences on what happened to your cousin," said Tenten.

"You need not give me them, Tenten," said Neji, smiling wider. "I am glad she is dead. And now Hiashi has no choice but to make me his heir. The Caged Bird Seal has been removed, and I will ensure it never gets put on anyone again."

"Uh-huh, and what are you going to do when you become head of the Clan?" asked Tenten.

"Well, I'm going to activate the seal on Ko, for one. As well as the other simpering traitors that appeased the Main Clan," said Neji, voice happy. He was happy at the idea of killing his family. "And well... times being what they are, I'm certain some of the elders will be leaving us shortly."

Oh my God, had Neji really...

She had been even younger than Hanabi was!

"Uh-huh," said Tenten. "Neji... I'm only ever going to ask you this once. Did you go down to the river a little while ago?"

"I have been there once or twice," said Neji. "Does it matter?"

This was the part where Tenten accused Neji of doing the unforgivable and slapped him. Except she didn't, she just shrugged like it was nothing. "Eh, not really. I'm sure the fish had it coming.

"Just uh... please don't mention any of this around Lee or Guy-sensei?"

"I did not intend to," said Neji.

Naruto walked on, feeling like he wanted to throw up. Neji was a few steps away from being Itachi Uchiha. And Tenten borderline approved of what he'd done. Naruto had known Tenten hated people who couldn't look after themselves. But this was...

How could the two of them have become so twisted?

"This can't be..." said Naruto. "Did Neji really? Could he do something like that?" And then he remembered Neji attacking Hinata in a feral rage, only to be stopped by the jonin. "Of course he could, I saw him try to do it, but... could he have murdered Hanabi? And be planning to murder members of his own Clan, even after getting what he wanted?

"What could have made him like this?

"All I did was study more for the academy and...

"Hinata died. Why would she kill herself?"

Naruto wandered into a park, feeling worse and worse. What was going on here? How could he have gotten to this time and place?

And then Naruto heard sobbing. Looking up, he saw Sakura Haruno crying by a tree. Her hair was still long, like when she'd first joined the team. Naruto moved toward her. "Hey, um, are you okay?"

Sakura looked up. "Yes I... I'm fine, really. Have we met before?"

"I don't know, have we?" asked Naruto, feeling like a different person.

"I just... you seem a bit familiar," said Sakura.

"...Naruto Uzumaki?" said Naruto.

"...Naruto?" asked Sakura. "You went to the academy for a month in the first year, right. I remember everyone picked on you, and you left.

"Where have you been?"

"Incognito, I guess," said Minato. "I... I changed my name, dyed my hair, and now people don't notice me anymore."

"I know the feeling," said Sakura.

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" asked Naruto.

"I don't really have anything better to do," said Sakura. "The Hokage put me in leave, pending an investigation into my usefulness."

"That doesn't seem like something Tsunade would do," said Naruto.

"What does Tsunade have to do with anything. She's dead," said Sakura.

"What?!" said Naruto.

"Didn't you hear about it three years ago?" asked Sakura. "The Toad Sage Jiraiya and Tsunade were both killed by Orochimaru. Well, actually, Tsunade was killed by Kabuto. I... I always thought he seemed so nice when we met, but..."

"I... how would it..." Naruto had saved Tsunade from Kabuto. "Nevermind I... don't you have someone you can talk to. I mean, a team?"

"No," said Sakura. "Kakashi-sensei is always getting sent on one remote mission after another. I think Lord Danzo doesn't trust him. And Sasuke he... well, he betrayed the village. So I have to forget him.

"Otherwise, I might get taken as a sympathizer."

"Sympathizer?" asked Naruto.

"Well, yes," said Sakura. "Haven't you heard about the disappearances? Several people who said less than complimentary things just vanished. Nobody knows what happened to them."

"Ah, right," said Naruto, shifting. "Sakura, did things work out with Ino?"

"Why does it matter?" asked Sakura.

"I... haven't had very many good things happen in my life. And when I saw you, I wished that we could have been friends," said Naruto. "I'd like to know something worked out."

Sakura shrugged. "It worked out fine in the end.

"I mean, there was this period where I broke off our friendship over a guy. But that's pretty much water under the bridge by now. He's a rogue ninja anyway. So the Leaf is probably going to kill him." She stood up. "Listen, I have to go... train or something.

"You probably shouldn't be seen with me. Kakashi-sensei has a bad history with Danzo, and, well, I'm not sure it would be safe for you."

And she left.

Naruto sat down, having the feeling he'd never see her again. Which made sense; he was just a person who had briefly been her classmate years ago. "Just like that.

"Alright, Orochimaru, fine. You've made your point."

No response.

Naruto considered the possibility that he might be stuck like this for the rest of his life. With everyone dead or turned into a twisted mockery of themselves. "...You're laughing at me, aren't you, Orochimaru?

"I'll bet you think you've gotten some great revenge by doing this to me. Now I have to spend the rest of my life... cooking ramen. And... it shouldn't feel this bad."

And Naruto was back in that same white space. Orochimaru was standing before him, now clad in black. "You were given an opportunity almost no one gets. The chance to relive your life. And you aren't even slightly grateful."

"I can't live like this!" said Naruto. "The guy I am now... I am not Minato! He's a gutless and simpering coward who gave up, and... he's not me!

"Oh, on the contrary, Naruto," said Orochimaru, coming forward. "He is the person you wanted to be.

"An individual who never seeks revenge, never feels spite towards anyone, no matter what they do to him. Someone who doesn't trouble others when they don't want him around. Who never picks fights and always chooses to compromise. Who never makes a stir.

"A person who was less like me.

"The Naruto Uzumaki who refused to talk to Ino and Sakura, despite their protests. He didn't pick a fight with Sasuke. Neither did he seek revenge on his teacher through pranks; he had a very different life story.

"Without any hatred in his heart, that Naruto had nothing to strive for in the academy. There was no one to impress, no one he resented enough to want to beat. He had no interest in showing up Sasuke or getting back at the people who hated him. So he never had any common ground with Shikamaru or Choji. That Naruto tried to do his studies. He tried to take them seriously but had teachers who refused to cooperate. His classmates hated him.

"You never knew Hinata, and she'd done nothing to help you before. So when you saw her being tormented by bullies, you just... told an adult. After all, there were three of them, and they'd beat you to a pulp. You knew you weren't strong enough to help her, and you weren't aggressive or hateful enough to try anyway.

"Hinata was saved, but she never knew who did it. She never had a role model or an example to keep her going.

"And as for you, you didn't last long enough in the academy for Iruka to arrive. Why would you? Everyone had made it plain they didn't want you, and you weren't angry and vengeful enough to spite them. You quit within the month and instead sought work at Ichiraku's Ramen stand. When the Hokage tried to press the matter, you told him to go to hell—very politely, of course.

"Everyone you met treated you like garbage except Ichiraku and Ayame. So you opted to cut them out of your lives. The village rejected you, and you accepted their rejection.

"That Naruto Uzumaki became a side character in his own story. His only goal in life was to serve ramen to customers. He never inspired Hinata to never give up, so she hung herself when she was disowned. Neither did he ever have a rivalry with Sasuke, giving the other boy a level of companionship. So Sasuke left the village even more easily. Naruto Uzumaki never reached the heart within the machine that was Zabuza Momochi. You never fought with Neji Hyuga and forced him to give up on his hatred. So the hate in Neji Hyuga's heart festered until he became a kinslayer. Tsunade and Jiraiya remained in despair and were killed by Orochimaru because of it.

"Pain never even attacked the village because he never even knew you existed, and the Leaf wasn't much of a threat. The Akatsuki assumed that the Nine-tails Jinchuuriki must have died in an unknown way. They couldn't conceive that the Leaf would be stupid enough to waste him serving ramen. They couldn't conceive that someone with that kind of potential would waste.

"You never learned that you had the Nine-tails inside you. You never found out about your true heritage. You never met Jiraiya, or Rock Lee, or any of the other people whose lives you shaped for the better.

"The Naruto Uzumaki of this world learned to give up on himself so that he would spare others pain.

"And no one ever acknowledged him.

"But, on a brighter side, there isn't a war about to happen. Sasuke was declared a rogue ninja years ago."

It was all there.

Naruto had seen it; he just hadn't wanted to believe it. All the hatred and anger he'd dismissed as worthless... it had made him who he was. "...You're right, Orochimaru.

"You gave me the chance to use the lessons I learned to change my old self. I tried to see the world only through light. But I... I had no idea that my aggression, my darkness, was important too. It was a mistake to try and shut out who I was.

"Let me go back!"

Orochimaru blinked. "Go back?

"The last time we did this, you were beaten to death by the Cloud Ninja. Do you want to die?"

"...I'd rather die as myself than live forever as Minato," said Naruto. "Give me a chance to set things right, please."

Orochimaru nodded. "Well then, I think you have an appointment to keep."

And reality changed.

Naruto Uzumaki had been having a pretty bad few months. He'd been working hard to try and be a good ninja. But his teachers treated him like dirt. His fellow students hated or ignored him, and Sasuke was always praised. Naruto knew he was better than this; he'd gotten an A on that test. Or at least not the C he'd seen put on it.

And now he saw three kids ganging up on a girl. "What's the matter, Hyuga girl? You gonna cry?"

"No, please, leave me alone," said Hinata.

"Think you're better than us, giving us orders," said one.

Naruto did not know Hinata very well. And part of him wanted to go and get an adult. He couldn't beat those kids anyway. But then he thought about what Hinata must be feeling like, how he'd felt. And Naruto Uzumaki got angry.

Very, very, angry.

"What a laugh-" began one.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!" roared Naruto.

He rushed toward one, feeling faster than he ever had. Punching one in the face, he slammed him into a tree. As the adrenaline wore off, he fell into his training stances and kicked the legs out from under another.

"Wha-" said the third, backing away. "No, please, don't hurt me!"

"Now listen up, you jerks!" roared Naruto. "She wasn't doing anything to you, so treating her like this is wrong! Three against one girl? You've got no class at all!

"Now apologize to her, or you'll find out what happens when you try three against one on me!"

"We're sorry, we're sorry!" They screamed before high-tailing it out of there.

"Jerks," said Naruto. "Are you alright, Hinata?"

"I... yes," said Hinata. "You're um... Naruto, aren't you?"

And then Hinata's handler showed up, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away. "Lady Hinata, get away from that boy, please."

"Some guardian you are," muttered Naruto. "...You know what. Fine, if the students and teachers at the academy want to make my life miserable, fine. Two can play at that game. I'm gonna make some serious payback."

After all, he'd given them months to start treating him better.

And you could only be tolerant for so long before you had to put up or shut up.

Naruto didn't plan on shutting up.

Which led to him being pummeled repeatedly by Karui behind a wall. She was looking very tired and angry, raising a fist. "Had enough, you little brat!

"Now tell me where Sasuke Uchiha is before-"

These injuries were nothing.

Naruto raised a hand slowly for him and caught her fist midfall. "I finally get it."

Karui tried to break free and ended up having her other hand caught. Forced up, she struggled. "What... my hand! Let go of my hand!"

"Thank you," said Naruto, giving her a winning smile. "I made the mistake of assuming that you were basically good people who had been hurt. That adding more hate wouldn't cure the disease. But I see now what it is you want. You just want to hurt people to make YOURSELVES FEEL BETTER ABOUT BEING TOTAL FAILURES!"

He shoved Karui back, and Omoi drew his sword. However, both were looking at Naruto with new caution. "Wha... what is this?!

"If you think I'm afraid of you, I'm..."

Naruto punched her in the gut. She could hardly move and keeled over, spitting blood. Before she could fall, Naruto grabbed her by the hair and threw her against the wall. Moving forward, he dealt Omoi an uppercut, knocking his blades out of his hands. Catching both of them, Naruto snapped them over one knee.

Naruto then punched Karui in the gut again. Because really, why not?

"Karui! Let go of here! No way are we qualified for this!" said Omoi, grabbing her. "We'll go; enough is enough!"

"Oh shut up, Omoi!" said Naruto. "It's enough because you're losing! You were fine with watching her beat me to a pulp! You were fine with trying to murder my friends unprovoked!

"And here you are, guests in the Leaf Village, trying to hurt my friends and acting like you own the place?

"Well, let me ask you something.

"What about my pain. My friends. My village."

Karui was looking mildly terrified. "Um... listen, I realize that we might not have gotten off on the wrong foot, but... I'm sure if we just come to understand one another... we can be friends..."

"I don't want to be friends with you," said Naruto. "I think I'd much rather give you a taste of your own medicine first."

"Karui, Omoi!" said a voice. "What is going on?"

At that point, a blonde landed before them; she had a huge rack and was carrying a set of swords.

"Samui," said Omoi. "This guy, he... he's a monster!"

"I am not a monster! I am Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf! AND YOU ARE NOT WELCOME!"

It was the most satisfying no holds barred beatdown Naruto had dealt since Mizuki. For years he'd been repressing his most aggressive elements. So it felt good to let it out on three totally deserving targets. Nagato had deserved it less than these three.

After all, Nagato had been the hero of his own story, destroying the center of an evil empire.

Karui, Omoi, and Samui were just a bunch of thugs. Beating on people when asking nicely would have worked fine.

Of course, Naruto deliberately avoided killing blows or crippling strikes. He didn't actually want to start a war, just teach them a lesson. But their desperate attempts to ward him off more or less led to a systematic breakdown.

Until eventually, all three of them were broken down on the ground and crying. Well, Omoi and Karui were crying.

"Please! Let us go! Don't kill us! We'll leave Sasuke alone! Just don't kill us!" screamed Karui.

"I'm not going to kill you," said Naruto. "I'm not like you. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind about letting you go.

"Hunt down, Sasuke. You weren't even close."

Silence.

"Well?" asked Naruto.

"We can't move..." said Samui.

"Well, we'll do something about that," said Naruto.

Knocking the three of them out, he carried them back to where Sakura and Sai were waiting. Landing, he threw them down. "Sakura, could you heal these three?"

"Naruto, what happened?" asked Sakura.

"Becoming friends didn't take," said Naruto, feeling oddly good about the fact.

"Oh, sorry, my nine-tails energy should be healing it soon enough," asked Naruto.

"What did they do to you?" asked Sai.

"Oh, they hit me repeatedly for like, an hour," said Naruto. "Then I crushed them in under a minute."

"Naruto, these guys are..." Sakura paused as she did the healing. "I can't heal all this in five minutes. Their chakra is completely exhausted. I'm going to need to take them to the medical tent. It's lucky for you. Pain killed virtually everyone in the village and brought them back to life. Otherwise, we'd never be able to have space to treat them." She stood up. "Idiot! Why would you walk off like that with them!"

"Oh," said Naruto. "Sorry, I guess I overdid it a bit. But it was either that or let them walk all over me. I'd hate for the Raikage to think we're a bunch of pushovers.

"Oh um, Sakura, there is one thing I've been meaning to do for a while, and I think I should do it before I become sane."

"What-" began Sakura.

Then Naruto grabbed her behind the small of her back and kissed her on the lips. Instantly, Sakura brought her arms around him to kiss back. Finally, Naruto broke it. "Will you please be my girlfriend?"

"YES!" said Sakura.

There was something to be said for a little aggression.