"Tobi I think its time you tell me everything." Tsunade was staring at me but the only reason I could tell was because the prompts had a bit of transparency. In front of my face were four different quests that I could choose. The rewards and failures were all left with question marks. It wasn't like I'd use the rewards to choose which one I would pick so that seemed a little bit unnecessary to me.
[Enter the nearest rift. Rewards: ? Failure:? Do you accept? Yes/NO]
[Tell Tsunade about the rifts. Rewards: ? Failure:? Do you accept? Yes/NO]
[Lie to Tsunade. Rewards: ? Failure:? Do you accept? Yes/NO]
[Tell Tsunade your story. Rewards: ? Failure:? Do you accept? Yes/NO]
My fear had come out in full force. All it took was hearing the word everything coming out of her mouth had turned my stomach upside down. I didn't want to be abandoned here but would she accept me if I told her the truth. What if I told her I might know some bits of the future? Would she see me as some kind of monster? What if she saw me like Orochimaru who changed bodies like skins. I took what little bit of courage I had in me and scrounged it up before it could disappear. I looked at her eyes which held such confidence. I opened my mouth a little but my tear ducts opened much faster. I wiped the tears from my eye before trying again. "If I tell you the truth will this still be my home?"
My words shocked Tsunade as I've never seen her this confused before. I wanted to tell her the truth but if it caused her to hate me then I don't know what I'd do. Once she collected herself again she grabbed me into her embrace. We spent a few moments like that and I had cried on her again. She sat me in front of her so we were eye level and told me "Tobi from the moment we met we've been family. I'm not going to abandon you and I'm not going to hurt you. In fact anyone who tries to hurt you will have to go through me before they can even think about it. I told the people outside of our family that you are my nephew but to me you are my son. You and Tsuna are my children and nothing will change that. Do you understand me?"
I nodded a few times but before I could talk she interrupted me "I promise not to get mad no matter what you tell me next."
I decided to accept the quest for telling Tsunade everything. If I wanted to live in this life I wanted someone to know who I really was. I may not know who I am right now but I want to live as Tobi Senju and not whoever I was before. I know in the future that I'll have to be at a goddess's beck and call but for the time that I don't I want to live here. Part of this was that I wanted to tell someone about the rifts and what it could do. The other part of me wanted to believe there were people who cared for me in this life. The problem was I just don't know where to start. Tsunade seemed happy that I was no longer trembling in fear or crying at this point. I took what confidence Tsunade had given me and used it to speak "If I told you I remember everything would you find that weird?"
"What do you mean by everything?" Tsunade asked confused
"I remember everything that happened before I met you but there was more even before that."
"How could you remember that you were only a toddler?" She asked me in disbelief
"The first day I can remember as Tobi I couldn't speak. I knew things but I couldn't understand others. It wasn't the language I remembered."
"Hold on a second. You can remember your time in Orochimaru's lab? How much do you remember? Did you have trouble physically speaking and what do you mean by a language you hadn't heard before. You were a baby." Barely any of what I told her had registered. I know I'm not explaining this well.
"I know I was a baby. Its just that I can remember from before that, before I was a baby. I don't know who my parents were or if I was even born from someone. I just woke up in a crib somewhere. The furthest back I could remember was talking to that Lady. She gave me a choice and allowed me to negotiate since it sounded fun to her. I don't know if it helped but I wanted to try. I had to give up a few things to get it done." I had said all of this in fluent english but Tsunade looked confused so I repeated it in Japanese. I felt so much better to finally say something about this. I hoped that if she could accept this I could talk about the other things that I wanted to share with her.
"Can you give me a second to process this. You're telling me that you met someone before you were born and made a deal with them? You expect me to believe this?" Tsunade looked at me with disbelief. I can't blame her but this was the expression that I feared the most.
"I don't which is why I was so scared on telling you and its why I spoke to you with the words from before I was Tobi. The look you have right now is the one that scares me the most." If I hadn't already decided on going through with telling her everything I probably would have tried to run away. My stomach was in knots and her expression didn't help me much. It told me that she wasn't really believing me. Deep down I still didn't expect her to believe me but I wanted to hope which is why I continued.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to." Tsunade quickly changed her expression and asked a question "What did you trade with that person?"
"I think I might have won if what I asked for managed to work out. I took a gamble and gave up most of my memories from my first life I think? I don't know its hurts if I try to remember anything from before my meeting with her. The only things I have left from it were stories that I could travel to. Actually that's where I went earlier. There is one in our yard I hope I can take you with me next time. The other thing I traded was four years in a coma and a year being a guinea pig for Orochimaru. I didn't expect them to all happen at once."
"There is a lot I want to ask you about. I want to know all of it too but what I want to know most is what did you ask for?" Tsunade was reaching her limits on what she could and couldn't believe. It was too big of a lie to make up and nothing Tobi did lead her to believe it could be as well.
"Let me start with something else first so what I asked for can make a little more sense. I gave up my right to choose where I would be reincarnated. It could have been anywhere, any world and any life. When she chose this world I knew about it because it was one of the stories I had read before. That means that I know some of the events that shaped this world. I asked to change some things but I don't know what butterflies I stepped on." At this point I looked up while thinking how to best word the next part.
"By any chance did you ask to save Minato and Kushina?" Tsunade asked me before I could continue. I paused as I didn't expect her to ask me that.
"Yes, I did. The story I read was named after the main character, Naruto. In it he was an orphan who had lost both his parents when he was born. I don't know how them living will change this but I was hoping that if I could find a way to Konoha that the two of them being alive would allow me to live here safely even if I was on my own. I know that this one has already worked out in my favor and it seems like their family grew due to it."
We both stared at each other for a second. The fear I had inside me felt like it was gone. I felt calm and in control for once. Tsunade's face was showing a plethora of emotions as she was thinking. I let her have all the time she needed as she was working towards something. She turned her head back towards me and asked her second question. "What does Danzo have to do with clans dying in Konoha?"
Once again I was stunned by Tsunade asking a question. Did the goddess really live up to her end of the deal? If she did I need to thank her the next time we meet. I had to think about this one a little bit before I answered her. Should I tell her what he does and if so how far do I go? While I was thinking about what to say Tsunade was studying my expressions. She could tell I was in deep thought but didn't interrupt me.
"I estimated that at worst I'd be an orphan in Konoha. I didn't want to take any chances about being kidnapped if I did end up in that situation so I decided to ask for a warning against Danzo. It relates to a clan because I should be about 11 when the Uchiha Massacre would occur. I don't think I could have stopped it by myself so it was two birds with one stone. Honestly stopping the death of the fourth should have also prevented the massacre but I don't know if something else would have replaced it" I looked up into the sky and sighed heavily "Uchiha Itachi would kill his entire clan sparing only his brother Sasuke. It would be covered up by the village but someone was planning it out in the background to acquire their eyes."
"Was that note left by you?" Tsunade had framed the question to make sure of her answer. She was almost sure that the note left with Tobi was his doing.
"What note?" My response was quick but I couldn't tell what it was that bothered her about my answer.
"When you were brought to the village you were left on the top of the Hokage's Office. Next to you was a scroll written for the Fourth Hokage with the 3 things for him. The first one was about the Namikazes and the second was what I just asked you. The only thing we didn't understand was the end. I can get you a copy if you don't mind waiting but considering what you've already told me you might already know what it is."
I looked at her then looked back down. I was trying to remember what happened between that village and the day I woke up in the hokage's house. I remember going to sleep in the hay but I woke up somewhere else and a month and a half had passed. The only thing I could think of was that the goddess dropped me off and took some payment of time. The other thing I could think of was that I died at that time and she waited until then and just dropped me off with a letter. Tsunade decided to ask another question sensing that my mood was changing but I stopped her before she could "I can't remember how I got to the leaf. I remember going to sleep in a stable and when I woke up I was in a bed. A month and a half had passed between the two. If you can remember some pieces of it off the top of your head then I can probably figure it out."
"We can talk about what you remember later. The note had something to do with what Kushina might like in the Hidden Village in the Grass."
"Oh? Is that all? Then its simple all you need to do is find the Uzumaki Mother and Daughter in the village. If they're not found then the mother will die and the daughter named Karin will be used by Orochimaru for experiments."
"Oh that's all? Do you know how much this would mean to her? To the village itself? The Uzumaki Clan has been wiped out and now you're saying you know where some of the survivors are? You're just saying that this is a simple matter." Tsunade berated me for lackadaisical attitude. I could only laugh because if I told her anything else more than that she would think I'm crazy.
"I mean isn't it just going there and recruiting them to live in Konoha? That seems pretty simple to me. I honestly don't know much about the mother but the daughter was an important character in the story I read. If it's true then my words should be a little easier to believe. If they aren't there then I'd suggest waiting as they might show up." We spent the next few minutes talking about the note that was left. I didn't tell Tsunade about the third's death and Orochimaru's invasion since at this point it might no longer happen with the fourth being alive. I answered any question she had and when she was satisfied she asked me if I could share this. I hesitated before telling her not to do it yet. I don't want to ruin the peace that we might get to enjoy in the next few years. I need time to become strong before I want to step on any other butterflies. When I told her my thoughts she was more upset that I was calling unknowns butterflies. I told her about chaos theory, the butterfly effect and a short story about it written about a man who stepped on a butterfly millions of years before he was born changing history.
Honestly, this has been the most fun I've had being here, being Tobi. All my fears were being erased by how Tsunade was treating me. The fear of having to survive on my own, learn on my own, finding shelter and food. Finding a place to get stronger so I can do the things I want to do. Most of my fears stemmed from the uncertainty of what my future would hold. If I was an orphan in Konoha I'd still have to watch out for Root. I was still afraid of people but I could trust Tsunade. I could trust my new family to protect me. It would take time for me to be normal again but I'm sure I can do this. I mean I really don't want to be stuck with all of my current problems for the rest of my life.
Once I figured out my feelings a surge of happiness came. I stopped my self reflection and started talking about some of the stories I knew. Tsunade happily listened to me spew about stories I could remember since it was the only connection I had at this point to my other life. In a sense I really was just a kid. I might be more mature but I had no experiences other than stories that I've read. We talked for a long time but I didn't want to stop. Suddenly a thought entered my mind about earlier and I needed to know "Tsunade, you said I disappeared before when I went into the rift. How long was I gone?"
"You were gone for a little more than half an hour why?" Tsunade was curious as to why he would ask that now of all times. He had just been spending so much time talking about different stories he can remember. Some of them were pretty interesting to her.
"Do you want to try to enter it with me? I wanted to keep talking but I was thinking about the time. Then I remembered that the time might not match up between the two. I don't know how long I was gone for but it was a couple of hours at least. I have trouble running which made me take my time exploring in there. I wasn't sure how long I was gone so I thought you were going to think I ran away in the middle of the night." By the end of my explanation the feeling of guilt welled up inside. Tsunade hugged me once more to comfort me. This time she left me on her lap and told me about how she thought I was kidnapped. How if it wasn't for Koko she would have run out of the village to bring me back. Hearing her words made me smile.
"As long as you want to be here with Tsuna and I. You're welcome to think of this place as your home. The two of us see you as our family and we want you to feel the same way." Tsunade took her hands back from the embrace she was giving me.
"I do want to think of this as my home. I know I'm not normal and I have a lot of problems. Sharing all of those worries I have was terrifying for me. I was scared you weren't going to accept. See me as delusional, broken or a freak. I mean sometimes I look at people and I already know how they've died or who's killed them. If someone like Danzo knew this he'd locked me up to make sure he could protect the village better. I wouldn't have any freedom and might as well just bite my tongue off." I was all over the place and my hands were starting to bleed from how much I was digging into my own palms. Why couldn't I just answer like a normal person. Yes I'd be happy to have a family and cry because I'm happy.
"No one is going to treat you as broken here. Sure you might not be healthy right now but that will change soon. I've been in the same shoes as you since I've already lost a lover and a brother. It took a lot to get over my fear of blood while you were asleep but I moved forward because I had a goal. It was thanks to you for giving me that goal Tobi." I couldn't describe how much her voice reassured me at that moment. None of the stories I could remember could tell me about it. Tsunade then brought her hands in front of me for a brief moment before moving them behind my head. She gently place a necklace on my neck. "This is a memento in our clan. I want you to have it now."
I knew what this was. How could I accept something so important to her. I practically shouted at her "I can't accept this."
"Is this something important in the story you told me about." I nodded as it was true. It was the moment where she truly started to change for the better. "Then you know how important this is to me and what it means to someone who has it right?"
"Yeah I know and I know what you think about its curse. It's not true as the person you gave it to wouldn't do that to you." I told her the truth. She thought that necklace was a curse that killed whoever wore it that she loved. Each time someone close to her died the necklace would be returned to her while she was in tears.
"Nobody likes a know it all Tobi. This is something I want to give you and I'm sure you'll find a use for it in the future. Now take it and stop complaining besides it looks good on you" She said as she smiled wide. Now that the two had a nice atmosphere Tsunade decided to ask something she was curious about.
"Tobi why are you scared of Konan? Was she in the story you mentioned? I planned on making her my guard captain in the future and she will be formally adopted into the Senju Clan when that happens. If everything goes well I was planning on having her be your right hand when you take over the clan in the future." Tsunade told me the truth about what she was thinking about for our future.
"Yes she was." I froze as I didn't know where to stop and how much to explain about her. "She was an S rank ninja before she was killed. She did a lot of things in the name of someone else which caused her to be an enemy of this village. Eventually the person she followed died and she died following their beliefs after that. She's not supposed to be here which is why I was scared. If what I know about her is true then she could easily kill me. I don't know if I'll ever become strong but I want to survive. That's all I've done so far." I made sure not to say anything about Yahiko and Nagato her two friends as their paths were probably much different now.
"You said she died? Can you tell me how?" Tsunade was probably curious about why I was so vague.
"She betrayed someone more powerful than herself and paid the price. She lost everything and it's possible that it was because of love. That's as much as I'm willing to give about her because there are too many things I don't know about. I don't know how she's here and it scares me." I told her nothing but the truth. If Konan was loyal to our clan and became my family I'd still have trouble believing it to be true.
"Besides her you don't have any trouble with my choices in guards?" I shook my head to her question so she continued. "Do you mind if I tell one person about the rifts? It's your guard Koko since Mako is the one I'm with the most."
"I'm assuming you want me to take a guard with me when I visit rifts and you want it to be Koko?"
"You really are a smart little boy. Today I can go with you but are you sure you can do it?"
"It's worth trying." I said as we both went to the backyard. On the way there Tsunade had summoned Koko and told her about what we were attempting and that we would be safe. She didn't bother to explain what it was as Koko soon disappeared after receiving her orders. After Tsunade finished up I put my hand out to accept the prompt in front of me and with my other hand held onto Tsunade. Soon we were both sucked into the rift and appeared at the same place when I came here before. The moon was high in the sky above us and it looked like dawn would come soon. Time really does travel quicker in this rift than the outside. Behind me Tsunade was taking in the surroundings.
"It really does look like we teleported. Where do we go from here?" I pointed towards the village that was completely dark. On the way to the town I started explaining about how I receive quests as well as its other functions. She thought it was weird but I told her it was the only way to use this ability that the person gave me. After that I told her about my time before I met her. I told her how I learned to wield chakra, how I learned to speak and how I was treated. I told her about my potted plant and how proud I was when I first made that flower. About how attached I was since it was the only thing I had at the time. I told her about how I got called plant by the caretakers after that. For the most part Tsunade had been cheering me up and thanked me for talking about it. Once I got to my time when things started to go bad for me I could see her clench her fists in the dark. It wasn't that I could see them but it was more I could feel them behind me. When I told her about how I escaped she laughed when I told her about my revenge on the snake summoner.
We decided to visit the inn I saw when I first arrived here to waste time until sunrise. I had explained to her about what I knew about this world but how I think it's different from what I know. I told her the one I know doesn't have a dungeon in it. It also shouldn't have this many different kinds in one area. When I told her the information I got earlier and that I earned some money she was proud of me. The hard part was explain it to her. How do I compare these semi intelligent pokemon to something she could understand. I could use summons who can communicate properly but in comparison pokemon seem a little worse. Sure there are probably stronger pokemon than some summons but I don't know for sure. I mean the easiest way would be to use chakra beast but I feel like that's a bit of a disservice to the legendary pokemon.
Tsunade continued to ask me questions until the breakfast was served at this Inn. The topics ranged from knowing more about what might happen in the future to asking about other stories I know. The sun was creeping up through the windows and people could be heard from the doors outside. We left the inn after a light breakfast. Once we were on the street we headed towards the mart. I had about 2000 in the currency used here so I could buy ten pokeballs. It seems like the prices here matched up with the game that I knew. We browsed through the section looking at all the available products before making our purchase. Tsunade seemed interested in the different types of potions and medicines that we're available. I looked at her wondering if she wanted any but she shook her head "You worked hard to earn that I don't want to take any of your money for little things like this. I'll find a way to make some money here that way we can go together."
"You really will come with me?" I looked up to her and I was excited. "Oh I wonder what will suit you. Hmm since we're Senjus we should be compatible with grass, ground and water types. Tsunade do you know what ghosts and psychics are? There are some with those as their type."
"Do you mean ghosts as in ghost stories? Then yes I do but I don't know what you mean by psychics. I can't say I've heard the term before." Tsunade had stopped her browsing and responded in kind.
"Be careful because physical attacks won't work on ghosts. You'd have to use ninjutsu or an elemental attack from your partner. As for physics they are able to exert force without interacting with objects as well as other strange abilities. I don't think we'd find anything that dangerous right outside of the town but it's better to be cautious." We finished up and I ended up buying just ten pokeballs. I wasn't worried about any weird situation popping up with Tsunade here. Walking around town Tsunade saw her first pokemon which happened to be a young girls bellsprout following behind her. I guess she had never seen a plant get up and run after a girl before.
"Tobi are all pokemon as strange as that one?" She asked quite confused by what she saw.
"I want to say no but there are definitely stranger ones than that one out there." I thought about how strange some of the newer generations looked. I used to laugh about it wit….my thoughts were interrupted by a searing pain in my head. I fell to the ground holding my head trying to keep myself from screaming in pain. Tsunade immediately came to my side her hands had already been covered in her green chakra. "Tobi! Tobi talk to me what's happening?"
Through my grunts and groans I told her I accidentally tried to recall something I couldn't. I didn't mean to do it but the memory seemed connected to something. I didn't know how else to explain it. I was fine a few minutes later but I was still being scolded by Tsunade for scaring her. The road out of town was fairly busy at this point as new travelers were coming in while others were heading out. There were two main roads leaving this side of the village. One lead to another city but we could only see the horizon on that path. The other had a lot more traffic as there were trainers on the side of the road. I could see many different type of people on the side. Some looking for a battle, others were enjoying the scenery and the most common were people who were looking to partner up for the dungeon. Lower floors held stronger pokemon but there were many mysterious things that happened inside. One of the more common occurrences on the lower floors were hordes that could form. There was the occasional rogue who could go through the routes in between floors. There was some other information I heard but I couldn't really believe it until I saw it for myself.
We reached the area known as the caldera. This area was the starting point of this dungeon and from here you could choose from three different paths. The deeper a person goes in the paths tend to converge. The entrances here each have a different group of common pokemon. The entrances were named after the most common pokemon in each area. The middle most entrance was the Rattata Fields. The one to our left was the Spinarak Cave and the right one was Hoppip Meadows. I left the decision of which path to take to Tsunade.