A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR FEEDBACKS.
I've read someone asking me if it will be a MinatoxNaruto. I really really love that pairing, but I realized that doing it might decrease the number of followers. Maybe if you really ask me I may write some MinaNaru oneshots based on the universe of this story, but they won't be published here in The Time Shadow. They could be something like a fanfic of a fanfic or whatever. So let me know about this.
About information on the story, you'll need to read it to find out! Here is the new chapter. REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT DO YOU THINK!
-chaper 2-
SOLUTION
A blonde shinobi sat on one of the bench of Konoha's outskirts, where the flow of people usually used to lessen. He was leaning on the backseat with his head tilted upwards, facing the afternoon sky with a pair of shiny blue eyes whose color matched it perfectly.
He often wore said eyes in a so expressively way that some might think they saw an open book in them. As it was for now, it was simple to say the young shinobi looked a mix between angry and dejected, with a serious expression stamped on the odd whiskered face.
Anyway, all that lasted for a split second. It was like a snapshot that only an acute and fast observer could catch, because the blonde in question was hardly known to sit still and more seen bouncing his way around with eyes sparkling with determination.
Indeed, the boy bounced up, standing, and groaned loudly. Some pair of eyes actually glanced at him from the sideways, narrowing as they took notice whom the noise came from.
Yes. That shinobi, who was now stumping his way towards Ichiraku's ramen stand, was Uzumaki Naruto of the Hidden Leaf.
"Aah, Naruto. If you are here for dinner, I'm sorry to tell you but it's a bit early."
A middle-aged man affectionately smiled down at the new entry, who grinned back sheepishly while taking the seat in front of him.
"Teuchi-san! Yeah, I know but… Do you mind if I wait here in the meantime?"
Teuchi kept the smile still on his face and his eyes softened, knowing the boy too well to notice the sad expression behind the fake wide grin.
"Of course, my boy. I gave Ayame the day off today, so your company will be more than pleasant."
The young orange-clad shinobi nodded, still grinning. This time, the grin really reached his eyes. "Thank you, old man!"
Silence fell inside the stand while the aged ramen expert went in the back-stand to prepare some of the ingredients for later. When he came back, he found the teen staring at the void, looking thoughtful and… sad. It was only then that Teuchi noticed his bandaged arm. Surely, something else was troubling the boy, as it was known that he never used to complain about wounds. However, he decided not to bother him on the matter and opted for something else.
"So, Naruto. It's only you or are you waiting for someone else?"
Naruto blinked once, confused as he suddenly came back to reality. "Uh? …Ah. Actually, yes. Kakashi-sensei offered to treat me after he... uhm… after our talk this afternoon. So I'm waiting for him."
He then pouted, murmuring something about probably having to wait until he'd starve to death. Teuchi laughed at the familiar antics and eventually went back to work when Naruto smiled back.
Another blonde shinobi with another pair of blue orbs stared at the sky that day, but in a completely different circumstance. That happened when Minato opened his sleepy eyes. A shade of cerulean, orange and pink welcomed his sight as he set his gaze towards the sunset.
Did I sleep that long?
Minato forced the sleep out of his eyes and sit up, suppressing a groan as he brought a hand to his forehead, massaging it to ease the pain. Shame the dizziness remained stubbornly there making him stumble as he stood up. He closed his eyes and waited for a while, letting his mind and body recover from the over-sleeping. He then suppressed the urge to vomit and searched for the clock on the ground. It was supposed to tell him how far did he actually travel forward in time, but it was all above the point now that he had fallen asleep.
Darn it!
He remained slightly surprised when he couldn't find it anywhere around. He shouldn't be, as it had been probably burned to ashes, he told himself.
He sighed. Didn't anybody notice I was here for the whole day? He wondered. Well, it seemed it was true when they said Training Ground 38 was one of the best if you wanted to be left alone…
He started walking towards the gates –walking, not jumping, running or not even jogging… the very idea made his head spin menacingly in anticipation- and quickly remembered why this T.G. used to be so neglected. It was simply that damning far awayfrom the village!
He kept walking, forcing his abused mind to stay empty. He simply enjoyed the smell of nature as he walked through the forest. Sometimes, he passed near other Training Grounds and could see some Genin Teams working with their Jounin-sensei.
He smiled to himself at the epiphany the sight brought. An unwelcomed sense of nostalgia washed through him anyway, at the remembrance of his own Genin teammates. He hadn't grown too fond with them and he felt sorry for that, mostly because of his Sensei who had always wanted him to see all of them as a sort of family.
He just wasn't the social guy at the time. And Sensei was enough of a family to him, so that he could focus on scaling the Shinobi ranks and archive his dream. He soon became ANBU and he would do his best to become Hokage.
He had learnt the importance of friendship at the due time, of course. Nobody ever disrespected him and he became quite the subject of lots of gossip when he was stated Jiraiya's only Apprentice, aside of his Genin's student. He was nowadays still known as a prodigy, but the truth was that he could count his true friends on one hand. His Sensei included.
He felt a headache coming and forced his mind blank again, before keeping waking ahead.
Minato was roaming the village, feeling a little disoriented… Had that flowers-shop always been there? He blamed his overreacting mind, anyway.
His sense of nausea slowly dropped and now Minato felt nearly fainting he was so starving. He kept going with the intention of stopping at the first food-giver he would find.
Punctually, he found himself in front of a certain new food stand he had never seen before. A ramen stand, judging by the smell.
Well, if something as a ramen stand had opened in the village, it was practically sure a certain redhead he knew too well would be right inside finishing his fifth bowl of noodles.
Minato smiled and walked towards it. However, he felt a little disappointed when no red hair welcomed his sight as he moved the curtains and came in.
"Oh hello, young one. How can I help you?" A man cooking behind a counted politely asked him.
Minato had hoped to find Kushina to have a little chat with her, as she always managed to bring back the smile on his face, but he was starving and needed food now. Besides, it would be rude to turn it off now.
"Uh… Hi! I'd like to order something to eat, sir. It's still too early?"
"It is, but only for some few minutes. You can wait here if you want, of course."
Minato nodded his thanks politely and sat two seat away from the only occupied one. He noted the other costumer only then and slightly widened his tired eyes when he locked gaze with another pair of familiar blue ones staring right at him, his blond locks falling in front of him in still a familiar way.
Whatever that feeling was, it quickly passed and the other blonde turned his gaze to nothing in particular, the bored look again on his face. It seemed he had been here waiting for a while, Minato guessed.
The man behind the counter went in the back-stand, probably readying the kitchen. Minato reached for the menu laying on the table and gave it a quick look. He had already decided that he'd order the fastest plate to cook, no matter what it was, but he just wasn't used to awkward silence and was trying to distract himself.
It was of no help the fact that the other guy kept glancing at him, and he was not even bothering to hide it! When he couldn't stand it any longer, Minato decide to speak first.
"That seems to be a nasty injury." Minato tried. His eyes still reading the carte in his hands.
The other boy glanced up at him, surprised to be actually spoken to by a stranger in that way. "Uh?"
"I said, that seems to be a nasty injury." This time Minato raised his gaze and looked at him, with a wondering expression. "Tough mission?"
The blonde in front of him blinked. Twice. Then he frowned, annoyed. "How could you tell?" He then looked at the side. "It's bandaged. You can't see what actually happened." He finally stated, a bit rudely. He moved his arms as if he had been going to cross them, but obviously stopped.
Minato frowned and suppressed an annoyed grunt.
Moron.
He focused his attention back at the menu, but he couldn't help a last glance at him. He looked dejected, even if he was trying to hide it. Maybe more to himself than to others.
However, it seemed he realized Minato had actually acted kind to him and eventually decided to go with the chat.
"It was training, not a mission."
Minato met his eyes, acknowledging the fact that he was paying attention.
"Sorry if I was rude before. It's just… Today isn't my day."
Minato smiled, not really offended by him. "No problem, I can understand. We are shinobi, after all." He could tell by the hitai-ate he saw laying on the counter in front of him.
The shinobi nodded, grateful. The silence fall again between the two, but again Minato interrupted it. Curiosity would soon be the death of him, he admitted.
"Uhm… Were you trying a new kind of technique?"
He could see him shift in his seat, uncomfortably. "Yeah. I've been training on it for a while now. And after all the crap I went through to be able to do it…" He clenched his fists and his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "That old rag wouldn't allow me to use it because it could 'seriously harm' me." He groaned, letting his frustration out.
Minato crossed his arms and nodded in understanding. "You know, I know the feeling."
The other blonde blinked, taken aback. He had been talking more to himself at the end. "Uh, really?"
"Yes. I've just learned a new jutsu and as soon as I showed it to my sensei he practically told me to never use it again."
Minato saw him smile slightly, amused by the situation. He managed to cheer him up a bit, at least.
"Anyway, is that jutsu of yours too dangerous because it hurts your arm?" As the shinbi nodded in affirmation, he continued. "Well, that seems to be a pretty powerful move."
The boy grinned and bumped his fist high. "You can say it! You know, it's a… uhm, combination between the Chakra form and… uh, the element- oh whatever! It's an awesome spiraling ball of chakra with wind making it looks like a big shuriken." He then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "It is kinda destructive, y'know. But anyway..." the sad expression returned, "I can't use it anymore."
It seemed only then that he noticed Minato's expression and he blinked bemused.
"What?" Minato managed to say when he could close his gaping mouth. "You can do that? B-But- OH, I was working on something similar but I only theorized it! How could you do that?"
Naruto blushed and grinned at the unspoken compliment. That was surely not what strangers usually said to him.
"Yeah, but it's not all thanks to me, y'know. The idea and the basic jutsu was not mine."
Minato blinked confused. "Is that so? You'll need to show me someday, then. If you're up to, of course."
"Sure. I'll be more that glad, actually! I'm Naruto, by the way." He smiled and reached with his available hand.
Minato slid to the one char next to him and took the offered hand, smiling back. "Minato."
He felt the blond freezing at the name, but it only lasted a mere second. "Uh. That's a powerful name you got." He looked away, an odd expression on his face that Minato couldn't place.
"Oh. Uhm… sure, I guess…"
He then turned back to him, the smile again on his face.
"Naruto, have you ever think about turning your short-range technique into a long-range one?"
Naruto creased his brows, thinking. "Mhm. I've never thought about it, but I don't think I could do that."
"Is your technique self-sustaining?"
"What?"
"Self-sustaining."
"…What does that mean?"
Minato suppressed a sigh. "That it… uhm, sustain itself…?"
Naruto kept the confused look for a while, before- "OH. THAT! Yes, it is! Once you do it, it remain in that way until you hit the enemy. You mean that, right?"
Minato's eyes gleamed then, as they always did when he managed to find the solution of a supposed impossible problem. He smirked. "What do you think about senjutsu? Have you ever heard about it?"
Naruto looked sideways to him. "No." He kept the 'smartass' comment to himself, after all he was helping him.
"Well, I'm sure if you'd manage to learn to use it, it would help you maintaining the jutsu active even if you throw it. You know, like an actual shuriken."
Naruto eyes beamed with hope and he smiled in anticipation. "Are you sure about it?"
Minato kept the smirk still on his face and crossed his arms. "Pretty sure. I'm a senjutsu user myself."
Naruto jumped on his feet at that, beaming in excitement. "Really? So will you teach me how to use it? Please!" He'd have clapped his hands in begging if he could have been able to. You could see his clearly pleading eyes anyway.
Minato slightly flinched, not expecting that. "Uhm… It's not that simple. You need a summoning contract first and-"
"I already have one!"
Minato looked dumbfounded for a second. "Oh. Good. Then I'm not the one supposed to teach you. You need to ask whomever you made the contract with. They'll be the ones training you in the art of Natural Chakra."
Naruto started pacing inside the little room the stand had. "All right then." He stopped, smashing his fist into his bandaged hand. "I'll find Ero-Senn- OUCH!"
Uh? Who?
Naruto recollected himself. "Thank you so much Minato-san! I have to go now. We'll see each other soon, anyway. That's a promise, dattebayo!"
Right then Teuchi stepped out of the backside. "Naruto! Where are you-"
"I'm sorry old man, but I need to go! Thank you!" He waved to both the stand-owner and Minato before he run away, with a grin so wide Minato thought it could compete with Kushina's.
Teuchi sighed. "Ah, that boy. Always the same."
Mianto turned back towards the man, but said nothing. Did he…?
"Alright, we are ready. What can I serve you?"
Minato smiled, ready to devour the entire stand.
YES! Finally!
"The first thing you have ready, thanks!"
The old man chuckled at the somehow familiar sight he had in front of him. "All right. One miso ramen, then."
Senjutsu : Natural Chakra
A/N: YES. Sorry if it was a bit short, but I wanted to publish it as soon as possible. Next chapter there will be Naruto's scenes described by his own point of you, unlike these ones.
So, what do you think? What will happen now? Am I going to not follow canon? ABSOLUTLY YES. Well, I'll keep the main concepts of canon, anyway. What about Kakashi, Jiraiya, Sasuke, Pain. FOLLOW THE STORY AND YOU'LL SEE!
Also, REVIEW!
P.S. Again, sorry for the mistakes. Betas are always welcomed.
