Chap.5: The Future comes alive! What was and will be!
An: There will be a lot of flashbacks in this chapter. Happy ones, sad ones, funny ones, and serious ones, so buckle up for an emotional merry go round.8
Tora, Aiko, and Hanami took Naruto and Hinata to a sewer access tunnel. "So how far is it to …where are we going again?" Naruto asked.
"That depends. How long have I've been gone and did we move again? I was there for only a day." Tora said.
"It's been the same amount of time here and we haven't had to move just yet. To tell you the truth none of us were sure you would ever come back." Aiko said. A light shone through some cracks in the ceiling and they could see a robot with two rotors and what looked like a storage area. "Everyone stay absolutely still.
"If those Seekers spot us we'll have a dozen Eliminators on in no time." Hanami said. She then looked to Hinata. "This is too cool. Seeing my parents at my age." The Seeker left. And everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's just one more mile from here." Tora said. Don't be too shocked if you don't get a warm welcome right away because of the Eliminators we have to be cautious of strangers."
They arrived at the ruins of what was a mall. "Hold it! Who are you?" A pair of young men asked. Naruto opened his mouth but Tora covered it up.
"We are a traveling circus, baring Bobo the flying lord of the monkeys." Tora said.
"Okay nice to have you back Tora." One of the men said.
"What was that about?" Hinata asked.
"Well we needed passwords that weren't logical so it would be less likely that the machines could imitate them." Aiko said. The mall was filled with old tents used for privacy and fires that people huddled around to keep warm. All the people were wearing rags except for those who were ninja. They kept walking through the place until they arrived at a particular tent.
"You better wait out here." Tora said.
"Why?" Naruto asked.
"Dad might not want to see the two of you, how he used to be." Hanami said.
"Because of all the unfulfilled dreams right?" Naruto said.
"Something like that that yes." Aiko said. They went in the tent while Naruto and Hinata waited.
"It's so…" Hinata said.
"Scary. That this is what are lives are going to be like." Naruto said finishing her sentence.
"You know it seems this whole thing started when I told you how I felt." Hinata then frowned looking like she belonged there.
"Now that's just wrong! You know that this whole thing was in motion before you said a word to me about how you felt and to tell you the truth I still love you and that's one thing that is not going to change." Naruto held her close. Akio came out. "Okay they understand what happened and they will see you."
Inside they saw themselves at age forty five. The older Naruto had on the typical clothes of a ninja from the leaf village ninja and had a serious look on his face. The older Hinata still wore her hair in much the same way and now wore a grey dress and pants with a skirt that could be thrown off for better movement. "Well this is bringing up old memories." Older Hinata said.
"Tora, Hanami would you step outside please? We need to be alone with…ourselves." Older Naruto said.
"Yes father." They both said.
"Tora." Older Naruto said.
"Yes dad?" Tora said just as he was about to leave.
"I just want you to know that I'm proud of how you protected the younger selves of your mother and me. I also wanted to say that I love you and I'm glad your back." Older Naruto said.
"I know Dad. I know." Tora left with a smile on his face.
"Until I found out who Tora really was I never really thought about having kids." Naruto said.
"Even though I loved Naruto for years I never gave much thought about if we had children." Hinata said.
"Well, they have been the thing that has been keeping us going." Older Hinata said.
"How have they keep you, um us, I don't know what to call the two of you." Hinata said.
Older Hinata smiled. "I know that this is very awkward just call us Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki. Don't you think that will do darling?"
"Yes, most of the students call us that so yeah." Older Naruto said.
"So, Mrs. Uzumaki, I would like to know more about when Tora was younger. We've only known him as the man who has protected us and that he will be our son, I would like know more about him." Hinata said.
Older Hinata began to go back in her memory. "Tora. For a while he was the youngest. We took in all these kids who survived the first attacks the youngest of them was five years old. Over the first two years of our community as we call it we did have a few other adults come in but for the most part it was the two of us who had to care for the children but then one morning…"
Flashback
Hinata had just come back from what they were currently using as a latrine. "Naruto." She called with a sick look on her face.
"Hinata what is it? Have you been sick again?" Naruto asked. This was the third time this week for Hinata.
"Darling I think this might be morning sickness. I think I'm pregnant." Hinata said.
"You mean that we're going to have a baby?" Naruto said.
"Yes, you're going to be a daddy. Someone is going to call me mommy." Hinata was obviously happy but Naruto seemed worried. "Naruto what's wrong?"
"I'm just not sure if we can care for a baby. You know how it is, everyone has to pull their weight and a baby is completely dependant." Naruto said.
"Yes but with the kids and the people we take in to the community you know what we say. There is always room for one more." Hinata put Naruto's hand on her belly.
End Flashback
"So at first you didn't want a baby Mr. Uzumaki?" Hinata asked.
The Older Naruto answered. "I...just didn't think it would be fair to being a baby into a world where it might die tomorrow. But as the months passed I realized our struggle is to protect the weak and no one needs that protection more than a pure innocent child." He then turned to his wife. "And besides you do pregnancy justice honey."
Hinata started to blush. "Now dear I believe you're making the younger me uncomfortable." Older Hinata said. "Don't worry; I enjoyed it so will you. Birth on the other hand is another story."
Flashback
"Urgggggggggh." Hinata was in labor.
"Why now of all times?" Naruto said. Hinata went into labor while they out gathering food with two other men. "Okay Hinata push! That's it, good push. Hinata push hard! Come on sweetheart just a couple more pushes!"
"I AM PUSHING!" Hinata screamed. A few moments later a baby was crying. "Oh, what a beautiful baby boy." Hinata held him close wrapped he skirt around.
"Hey there little guy. I'm you dad." Naruto said.
"So what name did you two thought of for the baby?" One of the men asked.
Naruto and Hinata looked pale. "With everything that we needed to do, we never picked one." Hinata said.
End Flashback
"What?" How could you not think of a name?" Naruto said.
"Naruto they are us so the real question is how could we not think of a name. So how did settle on the name Tora?" Hinata said.
"We got the name on the way home." Older Naruto said.
Flashback
The group was going through the ruins when they saw three Eliminators. They ducked behind a wall waited for the machines to move on but the baby started to cry.
"Keep that baby quite!" One of the men whispered. Hinata rocked her baby trying to clam him down but he wouldn't stop.
"He might as well be a roaring tiger with all this noise." The other man whispered. The Eliminators were coming closer.
"Lets just leave it here her and save our selves." The first man said.
"No! I won't leave my son to those monstrosities!" Naruto said pulling out a kunai. But just then the machines turned away and walked off. Naruto turned to see Hinata had put her finger in the baby's mouth that was sucking on it like a pacifier. "I think that we have a name for him. He may have been called a tiger because he was noisy but I think one day he'll be as brave and noble as a tiger so I think we'll name him Tora."
"Tora." Hinata looked down at her newborn.
End Flashback
"He certainly lived up to his name." said Hinata.
Naruto looked at his older self. "Is something wrong?" Older Naruto asked.
"Aiko, her last name is Uchiha. Is she Sasuke's daughter?" Naruto said.
Older Naruto sighed. "This is why I was reluctant to see you, so many memories of friends now gone."
Flashback
Tora was now two years old and the community was moving again because the machines found where they were. He looked off to the distance saw two figures. "Daddy, Mommy look new people." He said pointing.
"Byakugan!" Hinata gazed at the strangers and of course the first thing she looked for… "They have chakra so their human. Naruto! It's Sakura and Sasuke! They're carrying a small child."
Naruto stopped the convoy and greeted his old friends. "I never thought I'd see you two again! How did you survive?"
"We were both out on a mission when the uprising happened. We've been on our own ever since." Sakura said. In her arms was a little girl with pink hair who was sleeping.
"Well who is this?" Naruto asked.
"That's our two year old daughter Aiko. She means everything to us." Sasuke said. He now had a beard on his chin. "I'm glad to see your two are alive. We've been alone for so long we thought that it might just be the three of us left, can we join you?"
Naruto smiled. Of course you can. There always room for one more. We just have a couple of rules. Everyone who can pull their own weight does, and save the fighting for the machines."
"This is our son Tora. Look Tora now you got a playmate." Hinata said holding up Tora.
"We better move. The machines destroyed where we lived so we're on our way to a new home." Naruto said.
Three weeks later they settled in some caves in the mountains. It was a very good time for all the old friends. Hinata and Sakura swapped stories about the kids and Naruto and Sasuke got back to their old habit of trying to out do each other in training. Tora and Aiko were the happiest of all having finally someone their age to play with. To bad it wasn't to last.
"Mr.' Uzumaki!" a boy ten years of age came rushing to them.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"The machines are coming!" The boy said.
"They found us again! Which way are they coming from?" Hinata asked.
"Five Seekers are flying in from the south." The boy said.
"Sakura, Hinata start the evacuation through the north east entrance. Sasuke and I will take a few ninja and defend the south entrance." Naruto commanded.
"Daddy?" Aiko said holding up her arms like she wanted to be held.
Sasuke pick her up. "Now sweetie, Daddy is going to make that those things don't hurt you or mommy. I promise that I'll be back." He handed Aiko to Sakura.
Later as the battle went on the brave ninja were out numbered but they kept them out of the caves. "That's makes five." Sasuke said as an Eliminator 200 was destroyed.
"Five? I got six." Naruto said. A barrage of machine gun sounded and Naruto heard a Sasuke scream. "Sasuke!"
Naruto rushed to his side. "Naruto, I'm sorry I got careless." Sasuke gasped.
"Shut up. We get you to Sakura and she'll have you as good new." Naruto said fighting back the tears.
"There's no time for that now. Go. You have fight for the both of us now. Please tell Sakura that I will always love her. And tell Aiko that I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise. Please do this for me my friend, my brother, my Hokage." Sasuke was gone.
"NOOOO!" Naruto howled.
After falling back Naruto told Sakura the fate of her husband. "Sasuke…" she cried.
"The machines have breached the mountain we have to go now!" A ninja said.
People were screaming and gathering what they could; trying to escape when the Eliminators came in. "There are too many of them." Sakura said. She then put Aiko in Naruto's hands. "Take care of her. I'll stop them."
"Sakura you can't do it. Not alone." Hinata said holding Tora.
Sakura got some chains wrapped them around her wrists and two large pillars in the room. "It's the only way."
"Sakura no!" Naruto said.
"Go! Aiko Mommy loves you." Sakura said as she began to pull on the chains with all her strength. The ceiling began to crumble.
"Sakura!" Naruto said as began to run out of the cave.
"Mommy, Mommy!" Aiko cried.
"Don't worry Aiko, Uncle Naruto has you and he won't let anything hurt you.
End Flashback
"We raised her like she was our own, and with Hinata's help she was able to master her Sharingan." Older Naruto said.
"Sasuke, Sakura…" Naruto said. "Does Aiko know, about her parents?"
"We wanted to wait until she was ready but looks like that time is now. We wanted to talk to you before we'd tell Aiko about Sakura and Sasuke." Older Naruto said.
"They weren't the only one's we lost; we've had many people who've grown dear to have been lost." Older Hinata said. "That is why the children keep us alive. They made losing them all bearable. Tora, Aiko, Hanami are our joy."
"Speaking of Hanami we don't know that much about her. Just that she's Tora's little sister so that means she' our daughter." Hinata said.
"Well the thing to know about her is that she is her fathers' daughter and never wants to left out of anything." Older Hinata said.
Flashback
Hanami was born when Tora and Aiko were three but now she was two years old. Naruto had started to teach Tora and Aiko the basics of being ninja. Hanami was feeling left out. "Mommy I want to Daddy to teach me too." Hanami whined.
"I know sweetheart but you're just too little right now. You have to wait a couple of years." Hinata said.
"But that's almost forever!" Hanami cried. Just then Naruto, Tora, and Aiko came in. "Their home! Their home! What you learn? What you learn?" Hanami was obviously excited.
"Dad taught us a lot today. We learned how to do a replacement jutsu and an escape jutsu."
"And we learned a cloning jutsu and we learned a lot about the kinds of weapons ninja use." Aiko said.
"We even got to use real kunai!" Tora said holding one up.
"Lemme hold it! Lemme hold it!" Hanami reached up for it.
"Tora! You know better than to hold a sharp object around your sister!" Hinata said.
"Sorry Mom! I wasn't thinking." Tora said. Feeling ashamed he put the kunai away.
"But I wanna try!" Hanami said.
"No, Hanami you'll hurt yourself." Naruto said as he picked her up.
"But I wanna! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna!" Hanami was going into tantrum mode.
Later that night while everyone was asleep Hanami crawled out of her sleeping bag and went to her mommy and daddy's bag of "ninja stuff" and looked for a kunai. She pulled one out. It was heavier than she thought it would be but she swung it around like a sword pretending to be a great ninja like her mommy and daddy. She pretended that she threw the kunai at one of those bad tin men.
"Oooooooooooooooooow!" Naruto said as he held his hand near his butt.
"Ouch! It better be good if you screamed right in my ear!" Hinata said. Hinata saw the Kunai and then saw Hanami standing right there with hands on her mouth. "Hanami did you do this?"
"I'm sorry. I wanted to be like you and Daddy." Hanami said. As she said this Naruto pulled out the Kunai and applied a bandage.
"So you want to be like Daddy eh? Well here let's make you like him." Hinata put Hanami on her knee and began to spank her.
End Flashback.
"I couldn't sit down for a week," Older Naruto said.
"Oh please, you heal so fast it was the next day after tops." Older Hinata said.
"What do mean by healing fast?" Hinata asked.
"Oh, you don't know yet? I thought Tora meet you at two weeks after you finally told Naruto how you felt." Older Hinata looked shocked.
"No, it was the very day I confessed my feelings." Hinata said.
"Then I think YOU better tell her. After all you two are going to share your lives so there should be no secrets." Older Naruto said.
"I was going to tell you Hinata, but everything going on it just got put to the side. You see when the fifth Hokage defeated the nine tailed fox fifteen years ago he sealed it inside a baby. Me. I heal fast and I've been learning how to tap into its power but sometimes I lose control of it. Most of the adults in the village hated me because they thought I was possessed by it or something." Naruto said.
"Oh Naruto, I always wondered why most of the village shunned you and now to learn that it was for something that wasn't you fault, because you are different, because you have a burden that we don't bare. Now I see that you are stronger and braver then I thought, and that makes me love you all the more." Hinata said hugging Naruto's neck.
"Hinata, you're not afraid?" Naruto said.
"No, I know that if anything you would use the fox to protect me if you had to." Hinata said.
As they kissed their older selves watched. "The settings changed…" Older Naruto said.
"But it was word for word and action for action the same." Older Hinata said.
Naruto turned to his older self. "Mr. Uzumaki, do your kids know about what's inside us?"
"Yes, they know." Older Naruto said.
Flashback
Tora and Aiko were six years and Hanami was three. The family was out looking for food. Naruto and Tora went to hunt for the meat that was going in tonight's dinner while Hinata took the girls to find the herbs that were going in the stew. "Is this one good for it Aunt Hinata?" Aiko said.
"Don't touch that Aiko! It will give you a bad rash. Now that one over there will make the stew spicy like your uncle likes it." Hinata said.
"What about the one with the blue flowers Mommy?" Hanami said.
"No, but they do look nice, let's take some." Hinata said.
Elsewhere Naruto and Tora were closing in on their prey. Tora threw some needles and got his target. "Yes got um!" Tora said.
"You're getting good son, not one missed, pretty soon you'll be ready for some special techniques." Naruto said.
"I hope you're not talking about your Sexy Jutsu." Tora said.
"No, I was thinking more like the Shadow Clone Jutsu and your moms' special technique."
"The Byakugan! Do think mom will really teach me how to use it now?" Tora asked.
"If you keep up with you training I bet your chakra will be high enough that you can tap into it." Naruto said. "Now we need to get the other key ingredient for your moms' stew."
"I see some over there." Tora pointed into a hole.
"No, they're way too small." Naruto said.
Later the family was together again. "Did my mighty hunters get dinner?" Hinata said with a smile.
"Do we ever not get what you need for your stew?" Naruto said.
"Daddy we found some flowers." Hanami said holding them out.
"Well what do you know, I never thought see something like this again." Naruto said.
"Was there really all that more before Mother Net Uncle Naruto?" Aiko asked.
"Oh yes, and so much better too. Green forests, blue skies." Naruto said.
"We used to eat three times a day instead of just once. And people didn't live in fear for their lives everyday." Hinata said.
"The sky was blue?" Tora said.
"Three times? There must have been food everywhere." Aiko said.
"And no tin men." Hanami said.
Just then a new kind of Eliminator rushed through some ruins. "Hinata keep the kids safe I'll take this thing on." Naruto said. Hinata held the children close to her. The Eliminator attacked and Naruto came at him with a Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Eliminator threw them all off went toward the others.
"Stay together." Hinata said as she prepared to do a jutsu. "Kou…" The Eliminator struck her before she could finish and came closer to the children. Tora and Aiko took defensive stances. "Noooo!" Hinata screamed.
With his family in danger Naruto unleashed the power of Kyuubi up to his six tail form. "Stay away from them!" He charged the Eliminator biting, clawing and melting it. When it was over all that was left of the attacker was a smoldering pile of metal. Naruto reverted back to his normal self. He turned to see the children huddled around Hinata with the same fear in their eyes as when the Eliminator threatened them. Hanami was crying and Aiko was shivering. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked.
Tora pulled out a kunai and pointed it at Naruto. "Stay back!"
"Tora, it's me, your dad." Naruto said. He couldn't understand why Tora was acting like this.
"I said stay away! I mean it!" Tora said.
"Tora! He's your father!" Hinata said.
"But Aunt Hinata, he's a monster!" Aiko said.
"Don't let him eat me Mommy." Hanami cried.
"Children no, it's not what you think…" Before Hinata could finish they heard the sound of Seekers. "We have to get back home. Tora why don't you take the point?" She then looked at Naruto.
"I'll cover the rear." Naruto said.
After they got back to the community the kids were mostly silent. Hinata was making her stew when Naruto went up to her. "Hinata can I talk to you?"
"Of course, you talk to me about anything." Hinata smiled.
"Do you think we should have told them?" Naruto asked.
"We both agreed to wait until they were old enough. Tora and Aiko are ready I think but Hanami…" Hinata didn't think that this was something a three year old should hear.
"But she saw me too. We have to tell her now." Naruto said.
At dinner the children didn't say much and Hanami was getting more stew on her face then in her mouth. "Children we need to talk about what you saw today." Hinata said.
After they explained Naruto and Kyuubi… "So this thing has been inside you all this time?" Aiko asked.
"Yes." Naruto said.
"And we were afraid of you just the people in your village." Tora said ashamed.
"But now you see that your father only calls on Kyuubi to protect us." Hinata said.
Naruto turn to Hanami. "So Daddy isn't so scary right?"
"No." Hanami said as she hugged her father.
End Flashback
"Since then they never worried if as along as he was their." Older Hinata said.
"That's it! They deserve better than this!" Naruto said.
"Naruto, what do mean?" Hinata asked.
"Tora, Hanami, and Aiko should have better than keep running from one place to another. They need to have dreams instead of just trying to survive. We got to find away to stop this from happening!" Naruto said.
"But we don't know where Mother Net was developed and many could die trying to get that information." Older Hinata said.
"Not only that but we need to get more energy for the time sphere and we lost a total thirty men to learn what the machines were planning, secure the parts to build it, and steal the energy for it. It may be impossible to pull this off." Older Naruto said.
"I can't believe you're me! I would never give up without trying!" Naruto said.
"It is hard to believe that we're the same person. But after we've seen so many die I want to keep the rest of my people safe." Older Naruto said.
"But if it works then none of this will ever happen." Hinata said.
Older Naruto then had a big smile on his face. "Then we have a lot of work ahead of us!"
"So you'll try?" Naruto asked.
"We won't just try but we'll succeed too." Older Hinata said.
"And I know you want in on it and nothing anyone says is going to change your mind." Older Naruto said to his younger self.
"You know it." Naruto said.
"Then we better train you. If something happens to you two then everything we worked for will be gone. We are going to train you two to do things that took us years to develop and master." Older Hinata said.
"But if we're the same person then won't it take just long for us?" Hinata asked.
"That was when we had to learn to them by ourselves. But with our help and that of Tora, Hanami, and Aiko we should speed things up." Older Naruto said. Just then they heard Naruto's stomach growl. "I guess the first order of business is to get something for you to eat."
"Yeah." Naruto said scratching his head.
They went out of the tent and Older Naruto rang a bell for everyone to hear. "Listen up everybody; we've spent twenty long years running and fighting the machines and now it's time end it! We are going to undo all the horrors they did! We will change the past to give our children a better future!"
"But how will we do this?" one man asked.
"We'll need every ninja to do his or her part. Our raid on the Mother Net central hub complex will cost us many lives but if we succeed none of those lives will have not been lost in vain because this nightmare will have never happened!" Older Hinata said. With that the whole community cheered.
Later the family sat down to dinner. "So this stew of mine is really that good." Hinata asked.
"We grew up on this stuff. It's our favorite." Hanami said.
Older Hinata and Aiko came in with a pot of stew. "I hope everyone is hungry because here it is." Older Hinata said.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's dig in!" Tora said.
They started to eat but for some reason Naruto and Hinata found it hard to believe that this was the delight that their older selves and children made it out be. "What do think it will be like when history changes?" Aiko asked.
"Well I hope that I'll have a boyfriend and still be a great ninja." Hanami said.
"I'd like to be good at something that isn't a matter of life or death. Something that I would just because I enjoy it." Tora said.
"Well as you all know if history changes then my parents will probably still be alive so I would live with them. Who knows, maybe I'll have my brother or sister." Aiko said.
"You know that we always considered you a member of our family." Older Hinata said.
"I know but everyone thinks of me as your niece and they probably wouldn't think it would be appropriate if Tora and I got together." Aiko said holding Tora's hand.
Naruto then spoke up "Sorry for interrupting but, I got to know what's in this. I'm just finding it to believe that this is the meal you all made it out to be."
"Well my wife and I ate it for year so we developed a taste for and the kids grew up on it." Older Naruto said.
"Yeah, we love moms rat and spider stew." Hanami said.
"R…Rat?" Hinata said turning green.
"And spider?" Naruto also looked green.
"Latrines that way." Older Hinata said pointing.
As they ran off Older Naruto had another spoonful. "We just gave them another reason to change the future."
Next time:
Older Hinata: "I did so that means you will too."
Hinata: "An evolved form of the Byakugan? But how can I be the one who uncovers such a thing?"
Older Hinata: "You leave you doubt behind. Now is the time show that you can protect him like he can protect you!"
Koushougan, Hinata's time to shine!
Hinata: "No matter what I got to try."