Hello again! This chapter contains a one month time skip, so we'll be seeing more of the original Hanaki again! Thank you to everyone who's read this story so far, it really means a lot! Without further ado, let's get back to the story!

To Fix a World

Chapter 3

Return of the Pink Haired Punk

I've been here for about a week now. Suzume and I are surprisingly close. She invited me to her place today during class. I also just found out that academy students in their last year are allowed to buy items from a small amount of shinobi shops. I'm gunna be their new best friend for yeeeeeaaars to come.

One thing I realized in class is that the quiet broody guy in the class, I think every class has a Sasuke character in it, is actually pretty damn cool. Suzume and I sat in our normal spot, except Mr. Broody was sitting next to us today. Normally, he has his head down on his desk and never really says anything. He's good in taijutsu and target practice, but he sucks at henge and bunshin. Whilewe were sitting there, I realized that I didn't know Broody's name. When I asked him, I finally payed attention to what he looks like.

The boy was our age, but he was pale, like, really pale. He also had deep, dark bags under his violet eyes. He also seemed to be on the shorter side, but still taller than Suzume. I gained a black eye from the aggressive girl when I mentioned this fact. I heard the boy laugh heartily as I was laying on the ground. It was a pleasant sound. It was at that moment that I realized that I wanted him as a friend alongside Suzume. "I'm Kenichi Utataka, It's good to meet you too." The boy said with a tired voice.

Suzu shook his hand. When I managed to stand, I bumped fists with him. "I'm Hanaki Sora, this is my friend, Suzume Mizutori." The boy smiled exhaustedly. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked. "Yeah, I have a chronic illness. I'm healthy enough, but it's a real annoyance." He said reassuringly. Suzu and I nodded. The girl pat his shoulder while I pat his back. It was a bit awkward seeing as Suzu was next to him, and I was next to her.

The boy wore a light yellow short-sleeved shirt and black pants with black shinobi sandals and a dark grey combat side skirt. The skirt wrapped from his left hip, around his back, and to his right hip. The skirt hung to the middle of his calf. 'I might steal that skirt idea for myself.' I thought. He also had light brown hair.

Today, Suzu and I made a new friend. I also realized today, that Suzume is smart, like Shkamaru smart. She's at the top of our class in academics. The three of us started sitting together through the next week. Nothing special happened at all, except that the three of us started training together. We found an abandoned area in the inner village behind one of the massive roots of the giant tree. The ground was soft and grassy with good grip, water just next to us, and excellent shade, even with the natural canopy.

During that week, Suzu gave Kenichi his nickname. I was sitting on the side, watching Suzu and Kenichi training their taijutsu. They were blocking each other's hits perfectly. Until Suzu missed one. Kenichi fainted with a punch, and used the momentum from the thrown hit to swing his leg out and hit the girl directly in the side. She rolled and bounced from the hit. "Damn, Ken, that hurt. Where'd ya learn that?" Suzu asked from her place on the ground, nursing her side. "Ken, huh?" The boy asked amusedly. "Yep! Ken, now answer the question." The girl replied. The boy laughed. "Alright, I practice at home a lot. That was just something I thought up after missing a punch." He said. We found, during this week, that Ken really liked laughing.

He's a very cheerful boy. Any chance he gets to laugh or smile, he'll take it. Two more weeks passed. During that time, the three of us would take time after class to train in our spot, and walk home together. Suzu lives on the bottom floor of the outer village, Ken lives in the middle, and I live at the top. It worked out quite well.

Today, Suzu decided to meet me outside my apartment. We didn't have class today, so we were gunna meet at our training area. "Hey, Naki! Wake up!" The girl shouted at my door as she banged on it. I am not a morning person, and this is what I'd call a "Rude Awakening." I got out of bed and walked to the door, groggy as can be. I opened the door to see a self-satisfied Suzu, smiling as though she just won something. "Hey, Suzu. Good morning." I greeted, giving her as much of a smile as I could. It looked like a half-hearted smile, coupled with barely opened eyes.

"Good morning! Seeing as I'm such a good friend, I decided to make sure you woke up on time!" She said happily. I could hear a mischievous lilt in her voice. "Thank you for your wake up, I feel loved…" I teased dryly. She laughed lightly and slapped my arm. "Well, sure! You ready to go!?" She asked excitedly, dragging me out of my apartment. "Wait, wait! At least let me get changed!" I yelled. She looked back and pretended to think. "Hmmmm. Nah, I think you're fine." She said happily. "It's too early for this." I said under my breath. I'll be honest. I want to be an agent of chaos, I'm just waiting for the right moment, but this is too much for so early in the morning. I slipped my hand out of her grasp.

"I'm glad you agree, Suzu. I really do need to get changed, thank you for PATIENTLY waiting." I replied, walking back through the door. She was confused. The look on her face was just great. I closed my door behind me and heard her scoff lightly. I couldn't stop a satisfied smile from coming to my face.

After I changed into my shorts and sleeveless shirt, and grabbed all my gear, I fixed my hair, grabbed my key, and walked back out the door. I found Suzu sitting to the side of my door, looking at the clouds. She jumped up when she noticed me. "Finally ready Naki?" She asked with her arms crossed. "Yep! All ready!" I replied with energy. She smirked and grabbed my arm. "Good, then let's go!" She shouted, pointing forwards and dragging me away.

She let go eventually and we started walking towards the bottom. We weren't in a hurry since Ken wouldn't be there for another thirty minutes. Suzu woke me up way too early. We made small talk as we walked. We talked about our peers, like which ones we thought would make it in the ninja world and which wouldn't. We talked about our training and what we thought we needed to work on. We made it to the middle layer when were the most invested in our conversation. It was around this time that most people start coming out of their homes, getting shopping done and such.

We were so into our conversation that we didn't notice some worker moving stacked boxes that covered his face. He rammed directly into us. I fell face-first on the side of a building. The man tried to apologize when I stood. It was then that I heard Suzu scream. On the bridge we walked on, a piece of the railing was broken and missing. I raced and looked down. Suzu was falling towards the bottom floor. I grabbed the bottom of the bridge and flung myself down with as much force as my chakra infused arms could push me. I reached her in less than a second, three-fourths of the way down. I landed with a crash on the stone floor of the bottom layer.

I set her down and looked her over to see if she had any injuries. She seemed speechless. Eventually she said something. "I-I'm fine… Th-Th-Thank you, Naki." She stammered. She held her chest as she tried to keep breathing. "I'm glad. I can't imagine what I'd do without you." I said genuinely. She looked down with the biggest smile I've ever seen her make.

The landing I made hurt, but my adrenaline wouldn't let me feel it. The adrenaline ran out quickly. My foot started hurting, badly. The pain just kept increasing. Once I felt that Suzu was completely safe and uninjured, I looked down. That made the pain increase ten-fold. My left foot was fine, but I'd have shin splints there later. But my right foot was the problem. I twisted my ankle almost ninety degrees. I looked at Suzu calmly and allowed her to slow her breathing. I think she realized that I was staring at her when she started blushing. Her eyes were shining when she looked at me. She gave me a small, but genuine, smile.

I returned the smile. "I'm glad you're safe." I said softly. Her blush deepened slightly. Then I asked her a question that was on my mind since I looked down. "When you're better, do you think you could get me to a nurse or a hospital?" I asked. She looked confused until she looked at my feet. Her red cheeks turned blue. "Holy! Yeah!" She shouted. She turned around and crouched. "Get on!" She yelled. I clambered onto her back and wrapped my arm around her neck. She held my legs gingerly. "Is this okay?" She asked softly when she stood up. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt my foot too much. Thank you." I replied. She blushed again.

There're two close hospitals. One is on the middle layer of the outer village, and one after the bridge of the inner village. Suzu chose the one in the outer village. She thought it would be closer. That and the waterfall might irritate my foot. We let Ken know as his house is on the way to the hospital. We decided not to train today. I am completely fine with this. As she walked, I could hear small mumbles coming from somewhere. It wasn't Suzu, her mouth was closed. The few times she tried to talk, nothing came out.

When we got to the hospital, the nurse that would be taking care of me asked if there was any family that I wanted with me. "I don't have any family." I replied. Suzu was wide eyed. It seems that I forgot to tell her that. She was silent for quite a while. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'll get the doctor." The nurse said as she stood me up. We started walking, limping in my case, towards the door that would take us to the patient observation rooms. "I'll go with him." I heard from behind me. The nurse and I turned to see Suzu standing determinedly. "I'm not sure that we allow anyone that is not in the family to be in the same area as the patient." The nurse said apologetically. The green haired girl looked at the nurse with spite. "I don't care. He's my friend, he saved my ass, and he's like that because of me. I'm. Staying. With. Him." She said. "Besides, do you want a rowdy guest in your halls? Because I can think of quite a few things that you really don't want being found in strange places. Maybe a catheter finds its way into the doctor's lounge water tank. Or a rectal thermometer replacing the cook's thermometer?" She said mischievously.

All the color in the nurse's face drained. "Alright, will you both follow me?" She asked, as though the green haired girl belonged with them. Suzu walked to my side and, ever so lightly, punched my arm. I laughed a shook my head. That only caused her to look proud of herself.

I got looked at by a doctor and was healed with a leg splint and a healing from an iryo-nin. I have to stay off my leg for two days, and should be fine after that. They gave me a crutch to help me. Suzu and I decided to get some lunch somewhere, on the way, we picked up Ken. We found a small noodle shop between the bottom floor and the middle layer. It was shaded by the floors above and gave a great view of the great lake separating Taki from the other villages.

"So… How'd that happen?" Ken asked, pointing to my leg. I gave him a teasing look. "I stepped on a crack." I said dryly. "He saved my ass." Suzu said seriously. Ken looked surprised until he stretched his fist. I bumped his fist with mine, smiling at each other. Suzu joined in. "We need to make sure that we're on a team." Suzu replied to our questioning looks. "Definitely." Ken replied. "No doubt." I said. I opened my hand and placed it under theirs. They took a moment before ken placed his palm over mine. Suzu slammed her hand on ours excitedly.

"No matter what, this bond of ours shall not break. Whether we work together on the same team, or if we work separately, we will stay together. May this bond see the end of time. We. Will. Be. Together. Let's work hard to be on a team together. This bond shall last!" I spoke on all our behalf's. The three of us shared a look. At Ken and Suzu's nods, we slammed our hands down and threw them in the air. "Hell yes!" The girl shouted. Ken smiled gleefully. "Thanks, Naki." The boy said. I nodded. "Now, we have no excuse. Even if we're separated, we'll still be together." I told them. "That being said, let's do our best to be on the same team." I continued. The two gave me a dry look before smiling and nodding.

A cute waitress came around with our orders. I have no shame in saying that I was checking her out. I don't think Suzu liked that. She punched me in the shoulder. Not enough to send me to the ground, but enough to give me one hell of a bruise. I gave her an apologetic smile. She nodded. She gave me a sadistic smile… I've suddenly become quite scared of my future. I wonder why. I pat her shoulder softly. "I know that I deserve it, but when it happens, please don't make it permanent." I said pleadingly. She seemed to be feeling sympathetic. "Don't worry, I like you too much to break you all that much." She replied. I sighed gratefully. "Congrats, Naki! Now you only have to worry about undying embarrassment instead of mortal wounds!" Ken teased. I slugged his shoulder, smiling brightly. The three of us laughed.

I got cheddar yakisoba, Ken ate some dango and chicken yakisoba, and Suzu had pork ramen. The three of us ate in silence, just enjoying each other's company. We finished our food. "I wanna check out the library before I head home, what do you guys wanna do?" I asked, laying my money on the table. "I can go with you!" Suzu said, raising her hand. "I'm gunna head back to the training spot." Ken said. "Alright, we'll see ya later, then." I said, bumping fists with the brown haired boy. Suzu clapped hands with Ken.

The two left their pay on the table. "See you guys tomorrow!" Ken called as he left for the bottom floor. We waved to him as he disappeared into the crowd. Suzu and I began walking towards the middle layer. "Are you looking for a book?" Suzu asked as we reached a stairway. "Not really, just looking for a bit of news. I might pick up a book while I'm there, though." I told her. Back in the day, I was an avid reader. It would be a shame if I couldn't keep old hobbies. I honestly don't know why I didn't visit the library earlier.

Suzu walked beside me while I hobbled forward. Takigakure's outer village is made of multiple layers, some interweave between them. There's no way to individually count any certain layer. Except for three specific layers. The top layer contains the top third of all layers. In the second to top layer is where my apartment lays. This is also where the library and leader's house stands. The middle layer contains the middle third of all layers. The hospital sits here. The bottom layer contains the bottom third of all layers. This is where the stone bridge connects to the bottom floor. Many shops and restaurants are scattered throughout all the layers. However, the middle layers contain the most shops and restaurants.

The library itself is one of the largest in the Elemental Nations. Like every other building, it's made of wood and paper. The building has five entrances. This may seem like too many, however, the library is built directly on the side of the cliff. It's wide, long, and tall. It spans half of the top layer.

Several Takigakure symbols cover the building. It's mostly rectangular, except for the roof. There are five roofs in a traditional oriental style, colored dark blue. The building itself is painted Taki-teal. Yes, Taki has its own brand of teal. Several bridges on the bottom that pass the building carry doors inside. Other entrances on the floors above has bridges that specifically exist to connect bridges and the doors.

The inside has five floors, all built of wood, with stairs connecting each floor. The first and second are connected by v-style double stairs, the second and third by two staicases on the east and west sides, the third and fourth by a sing stairway in the center, the fourth and fifth by three staircases with one in the center, left, and right sides. Finally, the fifth floor and roof is connected by four sets of ladders. Every floor has several rooms. Some are for reading, others are ninja lounges. These lounges are used by special, and full jounin, and a rare few chunnin.

"I love this place." Suzu said as she walked into the first floor with me. Many members of the staff waved to the girl, some calling out to her. "Really... I would have never guessed." I said teasingly. She stuck her tongue out at me. I walked to one of the staff that waved to Suzu. The man was tall with black hair and black eyes. He reminds me of a happy Uchiha. "Hi, I was looking a current history book." I told the man. "Ah, those will be in section B on the third floor." The Uchiha-esque man replied. "Great, Thank you!" I responded. "Good to see you again Hitachi." Suzu said. Wait… what!? Of course the damned Uchiha looking bastard has a name like that. 'I think I had a mini heart attack.' I thought. He was looking at me.

Why is he looking at me? Oh, right. I was staring at him like a damned idiot. Great… "Sorry, you reminded me of someone. Have a good one!" I said, while trying to hobble away as quickly as possible. 'That was weird.'

'The hell was that? No, seriously. THE HELL WAS THAT!?' I waited a few moments, but I never heard anything else. "I would say I'm going crazy, but I'm a body snatcher from a different dimension. I've already gone insane." I said bitterly. I received a few strange looks. 'Not that I blame them.' 'Yeah, you're definitely insane.' I stopped. I starred for miles ahead, but saw nothing. "Nope, I'm not dealing with this." I said quickly. I continued towards the third floor. 'Please tell me that's you, Hanaki.' I thought, hoping to commune with the voice. Nothing came from it. "Okay, whatever."

I found the book. I found exactly what I need. Now to check it out. I found Suzu on the first floor, sitting at a table, reading a suspiciously orange book. 'Please don't be what I think it is.' I sat in a chair in front of her, she never noticed. 'A big red circle with a slash in it… Yep… It's friggin Icha Icha. Damnit.' 'And she's blushing… Lovely.' I thought dryly. "I didn't realize they kept smut on the first floor." I said.

She jumped, tried throwing the book on the table, and fell backwards off the chair. 'Today's a good day!' I thought, giving Suzu a beaming smile. She inched her way back into a chair. "Hey, Naki… Can I say that it's not what it looks like?" She asked. "That depends, what does it look like?" I returned. "Uh, like I'm reading a book?" She replied, smiling guiltily. I returned her smile knowingly. "Yep! Like you're reading a very special book." I said, bemusedly. She chuckled nervously, grabbing her smut and standing.

"Did you, uh, find what you were looking for?" She asked, desperately trying to change the subject. "Yep!" I replied, holding up the large book. I don't want to torment her too much.

It seems that Suzu knows the short woman currently checking out our books. She gave the green haired girl an interested look. She quickly blushed, realizing what the book is. Her stare intensified and became quite stern. Suzu shrunk under the older woman's gaze. I beamed, almost maniacally. The woman sighed and checked the books out. Suzu chuckled nervously and waved to the woman as we both left.

"Do you want any help getting home?" Suzu asked genuinely. "I'll be all right. Will you be okay?" I responded. She shook her head. "Nah, I'm fine!" She replied, smiling brightly. I nodded. "Alright, just want to make sure you don't pass out from your smut." I said teasingly. She nodded before she realized what I said. "Hey!" She yelled irritably. She slugged my shoulder. I laughed. She eventually joined me. "I'll see ya tomorrow, Suzu." I said. "All right, later! Stay safe." The girl replied. I smiled at her and hobbled off.

I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned around to see Suzu has only now started to leave, but I still felt… something. I hummed thoughtfully before returning on my way.

I moved at a much slower pace than normal. It honestly pissed me off a little. Thankfully, I finally reached my apartment. I tucked the book under my arm and fumbled the keys for a moment. I could feel lingering effects of that feeling from earlier. I unlocked the door and stumbled inside. I set my crutch against the bed. Thankfully, I can move around a bit easier in my place. I set the book on my bed and left for my kitchen to cook some dinner.

After a few moments, my dinner was ready. I set a cup of instant ramen on a table and changed into my pajamas. I should really look to see what's around my apartment outside my bedroom. The flooring is, thankfully, a brown and fluffy carpet. The kitchenette had wood-flooring and brown cabinets and drawers. A light tan countertop sat over-top of that. A grey refrigerator, a black oven and stove, and a white sink built into the counter-top.

A small, full wooden table sat in the living room a few feet away from the entrance with four wooden chairs. A head of the table laid a long, deep brown, and incredibly comfortable couch. In front of that stands a decent television with a few movies lying beside it.

To the right of the television sat two different doors a few feet apart. The one to the left led to my bedroom, to the right was the full bathroom. The apartment was deceptively large, giving ample walking space in every room, even with all the belongings strewn about.

Satisfied, I grabbed some chopsticks and sat at the table. I grabbed the remote and turned the television to a comedy channel.

The ramen felt warm and nice sliding down my throat. I missed the simplicity of instant ramen. It reminds me of home. Or at least my college dorm. I was a broke university student. Instant ramen, mac n' cheese, cheap quesadilla's, top-ramen, and maru-chan were the names of my best friends. "It's actually kind of sad… I wonder how Ed, Daren, and the others are." I laughed bitterly. "I might just miss the family Christmas party at Ed's." I was starting to get a bit depressed. I decided to stop thinking and finish eating.

Later that night, I retreated to my room and sat on my bed. "Okay. Let's start." I pickedup the book and began skimming through the book. I smiled. I found the pages I need. I read through it thoroughly.

"Orochimaru is a missing-nin, Jiraya doesn't have any students, Sarutobi is still Hokage, and, the Yandaime Hokage has been dead… For. Twelve. Years." I said aloud. "I'm in the canon span of Naruto." I couldn't stop myself from grinning like an idiot. "I know what's gunna happen. I have a chance to change things… I can fix this Lord forsaken world…" My grin doubled two-fold. I giggled. I chuckled. I snickered. I guffawed. I coughed. I laughed. I was hysterical. "Yep, I've definitely gone insane.

I set the book down, laid back, and rested myself. I fell asleep quickly after all the pain in my ankle began wearing on my body.

Darkness, a never ending expanse of blackness began shifting colors. A flash of pink shined through. Bright blue spheres pierced out below the pink. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, color melted in around the spheres and below the shrinking mess of pink. The silhouette of a person came into focus… Thankfully, they were clothed. In the exact clothes I'm wearing right now. I sighed. 'Really? That damn well better be Hanaki.' 'Wake up, bastard!' The kid yelled merrily.

I woke up… From that bullshi-. 'Language.' A voice chided humorously. "You do realize that you just called me a bastard, right, Hanaki?" I replied, pulling off my covers and getting out of bed. The voice cackled good-naturedly. 'Fair enough! Good work with Suzu and Ken!' The kid said. "You know about that?" I asked. 'We share memories, remember?' He replied. 'I never had many friends… or any, really.' He continued, depressing slightly. "Well, now we both have some friends, right?" I told him helpfully.

I could tell the boy was smiling, though I couldn't see him. 'Sooooooo… what should we call each other? This is gunna get confusing eventually.' "You're right. Um… I'm drawing a bit of a blank." We thought for a few minutes in silence until the kid spoke up.

'How about we use the same logic as the village? I'm Inner and you're Outer?' I rolled it around in my head for a while. "Sure, why not! We should also think about what we'll do with this setup. Eventually, I'd like to get you in a body again, preferably your own." 'That would be nice.' Inner replied thoughtfully.

'More importantly, what're we gunna do with everything else?' "What do you mean?" I asked. 'Well, we share memories, right? So I also know the entire canon story-line of Naruto. So what are we gunna do about all the big bads? Orochimaru, Obito, Akatsuki, Danzo, Madara… Kaguya?' Inner asked.

"Well, each of them are old creatures who never allowed themselves to let things rest. We're gunna change things. We're gunna save who we can and make this twisted world a better place. And you know what I think?" 'What?' "I think I'd say it's about time for those damned quixotic bastards to make their peace."

'Hell yeah.' I smirked.

Inner was silent for a few moments.

'Do you think the akatsuki hang out on their off hours?' He asked. I don't think I can respond to that.

A/N

Thank you for checking out chapter two! Everyone welcome the original Hanaki back from the dead! Or unconsciousness. Whatever works.

Thank you to everyone who's read this story. I appreciate it more than you might ever know.

If anyone has any questions, please do ask me.

And I have not seen all of Naruto. I skipped most all of the filler episodes, and I skipped over a majority of the Pein arc. I will be reading over it so I can do it justice, but if I miss out on anything important, please do let me know. Even if you don't want to review this story (which I hope you would), you can always PM me.

Thank you again everyone, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

(No more Reviews-Are-Life-Blood, unfortunately…)