Naruto Shippuuden: Altering Time
Chapter Four: Naruto, Meet Namikaze Minato!
A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and useful criticism from KyLewin. I got a little confused with myself somehow, so this might not be very perfect and good.
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Naruto walked around the village, somehow feeling lost even though he knew the way around. Many villagers were staring at him, as though it was as if he did not belong here. Well, he didn't belong here yet, did he? Looking around the streets, Naruto scratched his head and started wracking his brain for another plan. Before he could progress any further towards the training grounds (which did not change its appearance on bit), he bumped into a tall, sturdy blonde man. Looking down at him with an alarmed expression was the Yondaime Hokage, also known as Namikaze Minato. "Well, well. Are you the strange kid that's been causing suspicion around here?" asked Minato, folding his arms. Naruto bore a strange look on his face as he straightened his jacket. "I … I am?" he said, his voice laced with genuine confusion. Minato raised his eyebrows and marveled at how the teenager, probably sixteen, looked so much like him. Minato shuddered. 'Uncanny,' thought the young Hokage. He shook the thoughts off and suddenly patted Naruto hard on the back. "What's your name, kid?" Minato asked, shooting Naruto one of his cockeyed grins.
"Naruto," replied the teenager, putting his hands in his pockets. "That's a funny name," muttered Minato to himself while scratching his chin lightly with his index finger. He looked back at Naruto and drawled, "Where do you come from?" There was a long, awkward silence between the two before Naruto gulped and hastily answered, "N-Nami no Kuni!" Within a second, Minato looked up and hollered, "Oho!" Naruto flinched in surprise. He had never imagined the Yondaime to be this hyperactive, let alone so charismatic. Truth be told, he actually didn't care about Minato at all. "Damn, but you look just like me!" exclaimed Minato. "Are you related to me by any chance? My long lost cousin? Anyone …?" Naruto shook his head. The thought never crossed his mind before. 'Come to think of it … I DO look like him!' thought Naruto, feeling even more confused the more he looked at Minato. "What are you doing here exactly?"
"I'm here because I wanted to … … meet a friend!"
Minato thought it was a bit rich, but he decided to let the harmless looking kid go anyway.
"Ah. Well run along then, mini me!"
Naruto shuddered at the two words 'mini me' and immediately ran off. Minato put his hands in his pockets and watched Naruto disappear behind a corner of the street and sighed. Behind him appeared Jiraiya, who held an extremely satisfied look on his face. "Minato!" shouted the Sannin. "I was looking all over the village for you!" Minato turned to his mentor and shrugged. "I move fast, sensei."
"Yeah well, so does your wife's brain. She's finally thought of a perfect name for your boy," said Jiraiya with a snigger. Minato immediately abandoned all thoughts that were centered on Naruto. He gasped and grabbed Jiraiya's collar and demanded, "What's the name?! Is it Miyuki?!"
"N-No!" Jiraiya exclaimed, "It's NARUTO!" Minato froze and let go of Jiraiya's collar. "N-Naruto?" stammered the Hokage, stepping backwards in shock. Jiraiya scratched his head and chuckled nervously. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to name him after naruto …" murmured the old man to himself. He was referring to the steamed fishcake which was always included in Ichiraku's Ramen, which was small and circular with a pink swirl in the middle of it. Minato soon became as confused as ever. "Well … well … I guess it's a good n-name, huh?" said Minato, looking at Jiraiya with a pathetic expression. "It is the name of one of your characters … in your b-books." Jiraiya clapped his hands together with large eyes and said, "OF COURSE!"
With that, Jiraiya disappeared, probably off to tell Kushina about the coincidence. There was a bigger coincidence in front of Minato right now. The blonde, Naruto, who had the same name as his son, also had blonde hair and the same blue eyes that Minato has. Something was definitely out of place. Looking to the corner of the street, Minato advanced towards the path in which Naruto had just taken.
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Naruto continued running for as far as his legs could take him, in order to find a quiet spot to think about how he should be getting to the correct place and in the correct time. He quickly entered the forests and finally found a safe and hidden spot to rest in. He sat down on the ground and reflected on his bizarre meeting with Minato. Somehow he felt like he knew the Hokage, or maybe, as Minato had said, was even related in such a way which Naruto would never think of. What had Jiraiya and Kakashi kept from him?
Sighing in despair, Naruto looked around, wondering if he could just get help from Minato himself, or maybe find Jiraiya, who may still be alive in this time. "Naruto," called Minato, appearing in front of the blonde. He looked down at the young sixteen year old and folded his arms. "You have some explaining to do."
"What is there to explain, Hokage-sama?" retorted Naruto, feeling frustrated.
"Everything, like where you came from."
Naruto frowned and looked away. He let out a sigh and said, "I'm from the future."
"It can't be that far into the future, considering the fact that you have a shinobi's look about you."
Naruto nodded. All he wanted now was the help of the Fourth. Looking up at the tall adult, Naruto asked, "Can you help me go back?" Minato furrowed his brows and sat down next to Naruto. "Sure," Minato said, "you are, after all, my son." Naruto's heart skipped a beat. His expression turned into a face contorted with shock. "I'm your SON?"
Minato nodded curtly and replied, "Yeah. I just found out from Jiraiya."
"He's still alive?"
"Alive?" Minato tilted his head to one side slightly, with a craggy face.
Naruto scratched his head and struggled for a moment before telling Minato everything that had happened to Jiraiya. "I'll be damned," said Minato. "He became your sensei for a while and taught you the Rasengan I see." His face drooped to sadness gradually the more he thought about it. "It sucks to know the future," murmured Minato sadly.
"I'm sorry, I guess." Naruto looked away and looked down at his own hands. "I couldn't stop him."
Minato moved closer to his son and felt the need to know more. "Who was he?"
"Pein," said Naruto, feeling the sting of the wretched name.
'Him …?' thought Minato, with a serious look on his face. 'I never thought he'd do something that bold.' "I'll stop him."
"How can you? I can't risk changing too much of the future."
Minato patted Naruto gently on the back and said, "I wish I was there. Am I?"
The young blonde shook his head. He looked to his father and continued, "You died right after I was born." That did it. Naruto knew that there would be consequences to face in his time, but he could not help but to trust Minato even more with the future. "I never knew love. I never knew my parents." The Hokage adjusted his Jounin vest slightly. "H-how did I die?"
"You sealed the Kyuubi in me and died right after that. You were a hero. I wasn't."
"What d'you mean?" Minato started to feel the pain growing inside his heart. He pitied Naruto and wanted very much to change the future for him. For them. "The villagers treated me like crap, like I was a damned monster."
"Just because of the Kyuubi," continued Naruto. "I was an outcast."
Minato closed his eyes and shook his head. The villagers never understood anything, did they? "I'm sorry," he apologized. Naruto glanced sideways and looked at his father, who held a crushed expression. "I handled it well. You don't have to be sorry."
'Man, I'm already a failure as a father even before my son was born.'
The two sat there silently, not uttering a single word. They were already thinking about everything.
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Yeah … don't think it's that good. I got Geography assignments so I was a bit late with this one. Yeah.
Next Chapter: The Kyuubi Attacks!