Previously: Garudo Inugami, Nagisa's father, finally shows himself in front of Naruto and Sakura, who were shocked to find out that he looked exactly like Naruto. After hearing the whole story about an S-rank mission, they both learn that Garudo's wife, including several of their friends, were killed.
Naruto and Sakura, hoping that this was Genjutsu, were completely at a loss for words as they looked to each other, making love on the very same night. Now, in search for the Scroll of Time, the three of them set off on their mission...
Naruto: Rewind ~ Chapter Eight
The next day came as the sun shined brightly in the window of the apartment. Naruto's eyes twitched open as he looked at the ceiling. He then looked down as saw Sakura laying on his chest. He smiled at her, then quietly, got up.
About an hour later, Sakura woke up and noticed Naruto all dressed; he was wearing a new, black jacket as he was putting on his headband. He saw that she was awake, walked towards her, and kneeled down to talk to her. "Are you okay, since last night?" he asked her. "Yeah," she said covering herself with the blankets. She, then, looked down and blushed. He smiled and said, "Come on, we're supposed to meet Garudo at the gate."
As she got up, Sakura noticed something and placed her hand on her stomach. She smiled afterwards.
A half-hour passed as Garudo waited at the gate. Naruto and Sakura walked up.
"Sorry, did we keep you long?" Naruto asked. "Actually," Garudo began, "I showed up myself, just a few minutes ago. Speaking of which, I brought a little friend with us..." A little girl, whose hair was tied in a ponytail, appeared from behind Garudo. "Is that Nagisa?" Naruto asked. "She looks so different," Sakura replied. Indeed, Nagisa was different: She was wearing new clothes. a sleeveless black top, black arm warmers, white pants, and grey boots. She had a set of ninja tools and her sword on the back of her belt.
"I owe it to you two for spending time with me!" Nagisa replied, "Besides, I want to be ready for when there are more Orochimaru's minions about!" "That's the spirit, Nagisa!" Naruto shouted, "Believe it!" "So," Sakura began, "Where do we start looking for this Scroll of Time? The last time Naruto and I went to one of Orochimaru's hideouts, it turned into a pile of rubble..."
"The Land of Rice Fields," Garudo answered, "I'm certain that the Scroll is there." "The Land of Rice?" Sakura exclaimed, "You think it's there?!" "You've got to be kidding me!" Naruto replied, "That area is so close! It's not even a day's journey from here!" "True," Garudo responded, "But, I have my hunches on this one! If we hurry towards there, we can make it before noon!" With all in agreement, they headed out towards the Land of Rice Fields.
At the Hokage's office, Kakashi was greeted by a knock at his door. "Come in," he said. Opening the door, Yamato entered.
"Kakashi!" he said, "I just heard that you sent Naruto, Sakura, and Garudo on a mission. Where did you send them?" "They are on a mission to search for the Scroll of Time," Kakashi answered, "They should be leaving right now." "Do you actually think that this Scroll of Time actually exists?" "Having hearing when I was growing up, I wouldn't be surprised if it did..."
Kakashi then looked out the window, then took a deep breath.
Nagisa was running as fast as she could as Naruto, Garudo, and Sakura were close behind. "Nagisa!" Garudo shouted, "Don't get too ahead of us!" "Okay!" Nagisa replied. "Wow!" Sakura said looking at Nagisa, "She's so fast! All that weighted clothing she's been wearing must of had a positive effect on her. Did her mother wanted her to become ninja like that?" "No..." Garudo replied, "...Just not a victim. My wife died a few months after Nagisa was born. The truth is...she doesn't even know who her mother was..."
Naruto and Sakura looked at each other in question.
About a half-hour later, the whole group made it to the Land of Rice Fields. At a fast pace, they made it through some rough trees in the forest. Several minutes later, all four of them stopped in a small area. "Why are we stopping here?" Naruto asked. "The base, Orochimaru use to manage from, is a few feet ahead of us. So, we need to be as quiet and discreet as we can!"
Walking through some more branches and woods, the four of them came across a large building, in a spacey area. They started to hide behind a large that is right in front of them. "Is that it?" Sakura whispered. "Yeah," Garudo replied. "Isn't that place a little too big?" Nagisa asked, "I've heard stories about Orochimaru, I mean." "You're right," Sakura replied, "Orochimaru wouldn't be in a place that stuck out like a sore thumb." While the conversation between the three was going on, Naruto got into his Sage Mode.
Nagisa, immediately, saw two dark-clothed ninjas appearing out of the entrance of the hideout. "I see somebody," she said, "In fact, I see two of them." "I wonder how many of them are there," Sakura replied, "We don't just want to go in a cause a panic." "Well," Naruto spoke up, "I can sense chakra, from at least, four...five...probably eight people. Maybe even more...I can't tell because of the layers inside." "Well," Garudo began, "I couldn't really myself how deep this goes. I've been in there once before; even I never been to the bottom..."
Sage Naruto continue to sense the chakra of the ninjas guarding the hideout. 'Huh? Wait a minute...' he thought. 'This chakra...' "Let's hurry!" Garudo replied, "If the Scroll of Time is really down there, then we don't have any time for finesse." "Then," Naruto spoke up, "you two go on ahead. Nagisa and I need to do something." "Okay, but don't dragged behind too much..."
With Garudo and Sakura moving on ahead, Nagisa and Naruto started to talk. "What is it, Naruto?" she asked. "I need you to leave a shadow clone behind," Naruto answered.
Several minutes later, the two of them up with Garudo and Sakura, who were looking down. "What's the matter?" Naruto asked. "These two..." Garudo answered. "So, did you knock them out?" "No," Sakura said, "They just fell out! The moment we approached them, they just collapsed." Nagisa kneeled down to check up on them. She felt something rough as she pulled the hood off of one of the ninjas. "It's wood!" she said, "This ninja is completely made of wood." "I don't think it was an illusion or substitution jutsu," Naruto said, "I didn't sense any change in chakra when they collapsed." "Looks like there's something here alright," Garudo said, "Come on, let's go inside!"
Inside Orochimaru's Old Hideout
Garudo lead Nagisa, Naruto, and Sakura were walking down a long hallway. Naruto, still in Sage Mode, said, "That's weird...I'm not sensing any of the ninjas, not to mention their chakra." "Must be because they're high-levels shinobi," Garudo replied, "Most I've heard are able to supress their chakra from suspicion."
Walking behind the boys, Sakura placed her hand on her stomach again. Nagisa noticed this at the corner of her eye. "Sakura?" she asked, "Is something wrong?" "Uh, no!" Sakura replied, "It's nothing!"
After going down several flights of stairs, the four of them came across a large room, but nothing in it. "Huh?" Sakura breathed. "Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto asked. She quietly shushed the group. Looking around, the group formed a circle facing outwards. Naruto closed his eyes as he let his sensory abilities take over. "They're here!" he shouted, opening his eyes. In a rush, twelve dark-clothed ninjas appeared surrounding them. 'Huh? This chakra again...' "It looks like the ones at the entrance were nothing more than distractions!" Sakura shouted, "They must have known that we were coming!" "And it doesn't look like they are letting leave this room anytime soon!" Nagisa shouted as well.
Garudo, frustrated, started looking around for a way out. "There!" he shouted looking in the shadows, "Naruto! You and I need to make a run for it! Sakura, you stay here with Nagisa and see to it that we don't get seen!" "You got it!" Sakura said. "Nagisa, do it now!" Naruto shouted. "Right!" Nagisa said, forming a handsign, "RELEASE!"
A shadow clone of Nagisa, that was meditating in the woods, suddenly disappeared.
Nagisa's eyes immediately changed as she went into Sage Mode. "All right!" she said, "Now, I'm ready to fight! Thanks for the tip, Naruto!" "Let's go, Naruto!" Garudo shouted. "Right!" Naruto said, then looked at Sakura, who in turn did the same thing. They both nodded at each other as Naruto went to follow Garudo. Several of the dark-clothed ninjas tried to follow, but Nagisa got in front of them just in time. "You think that you can just ignore a couple of cute girls like that?" she shouted as Sakura appeared beside her. "Well then," Sakura said cracking her knuckles, "just for being so rude...forgiveness is NOT an option!" "Let's do it, Sakura!" Grabbing her by the legs, Sakura started to swing Nagisa around. "CHHHAAAA!" she shouted throwing her at the ninjas. Several slashing sounds were heard as Nagisa landed. Standing up, she hit the hilt of her sword; four of the ninjas was killed in a instant. "Who dies next?" she said smiling.
Continuing to run downstairs, Naruto and Garudo stopped to catch their breath. "We should be fine here," Garudo replied standing up straight. "Well, I hope that Sakura and Nagisa will be okay," Naruto said looking up. He was shocked at the surroundings. On both sides of the large room, there were cages opened and skeletons handcuffed on the doors. Everything looked burnt as well...
"What the hell is this place?!" Naruto shouted, "It's looks like a prison in here!" "That's because, it is!" Garudo said, "It's a holding cell where Orochimaru was keeping prisoners down here for his experiments; you already seen the results." Garudo kept on looking forward to see a large and long hallway, with something glowing at the end. "There!" he said, "The Scroll of Time is down that hallway!"
"Hold on for a minute!" Naruto said, stopping Garudo. "What is it?!" Garudo said getting frustrated, "We need to hurry before those ninjas get down here?" "The Scroll of Time isn't going anywhere, so there's plenty of time to talk!" Naruto begin to walk close to the person who looked just like him. "Are you that Orochimaru's followers want to use the Scroll to go back in time?" he asked. "Of course," Garudo answered, "Even at this day of peace, Orochimaru still has followers that bow to his every will." "Okay...Let me rephrase the question: Are the ninjas that invaded the village, the ones who attacked us a moment ago, really remnants of Orochimaru's army? Or..." Naruto paused for a few seconds.
"Are they really Shadow Clones created by YOU?!"
Garudo reacted at the response of Naruto's question. "What are you talking about?!" he said turning around to face Naruto, "Why are you suggesting that I had something to do with the village?" "Well, for starters," Naruto began, "I fought Orochimaru and his minions before; they're NOT wearing the headbands of the Sound Village. If they were really Sound Ninjas, they would have been more covert with getting in and out, without being noticed!"
Garudo smiled and said, "If that's all you have, even in Interrogation, it wouldn't hold up!" "I'm not finished with my explanation!" Naruto exclaimed, "My next guess...is their chakra!" "The chakra...?"
"Now, Nagisa may not be use to the Sensory Capabilites of the Sage Mode, but I am! Did you think I wouldn't notice?! Your chakra imprint was all over those ninjas; plus, I don't think there was any flux due to having NO curse mark! So, if any other excuses, you might as well drop them!"
Not saying a word, Garudo turned to the side. Thirty seconds later, he slowly started to laugh maniacally.
"You always did seem fit to point out the obvious, Naruto!" he said laughing. Then he turned to look at Naruto with a crazed look on his face. "That's right! I was the one who sent my shadow clones to attack the Leaf Village!" "You scumbag!" Naruto exclaimed, "After everything the village has done for you, you turn and betray them!?" "I don't know why you're surprised about all of this, Naruto! I've been like this for years now. Anger in my eyes, and hatred in my heart for all of those damned people who led my wife to her death!"
"You're insane!" Naruto said backing up a little. "Ah, come on Naruto!" Garudo said, "You should know me better than anyone! After all, we're best friends. But, more to the point..."
"I AM YOU!"
'You're me?' Naruto thought. "You were always so slow on the uptake!" Garudo said, "I am Garudo Inugami, a complete replica of Naruto Uzumaki!" "You're a replica!?" Naruto said in shock. Garudo continued to laugh in silence...
He finally gets some answers! Garudo Inugami is a replica of Naruto, who staged an attack on the Hidden Leaf Village. As Naruto stares down in own replica, only one question came to his mind: How can two versions of himself exist in the same world...at the same time?
Naruto: Rewind Opening Song ~ Progress
I was there, at that time, at that place.
If that me who was fighting there,
If everything was for the sake of choosing this moment right now...
I wonder if the reason I want to forgive
That past where we deserted without facing ourselves
is because I want to be forgiven myself.
The time when we were able to just be free is far away.
We can't live in this time with just an innocent smile, but...
We move ahead.
Even so, we continue to move ahead
Because we still have a heart left inside of us
that wants to believe in something.
A/N: In the next chapter, a deep insight to Garudo Inugami's psyche! Until then, please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the Tales of Xillia theme song, Progress.