Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies, I don't know.
I would like to ask a burst of applause for my fantastic beta readers: ImaginationJunkie1412 and Skyisthelimit.
Original upload date: 8th of July 2013
Last update:-
Chance for a Prophecy
Chapter 17. – Walking on Thin Ice
"Half of writing history is hiding the truth"
― Joss Whedon
"You eat like every meal will be your last one …" Naruto only shrugged in response and took another bite. Kushina dropped another piece of meat onto his plate, and Naruto tucked in, unaware of the blue eyes fixed on his frame as he demolished the meat in three bites. The blond teen let out a satisfied sigh and patted his rounding stomach, leaning back with closed eyes.
"Much better now," mumbled the young blond.
"Hey Toroku." Naruto sneaked a peek from the corner of one opened eye, showing that he was listening.
"I met with Inoichi and he told me something..." Naruto didn't move from his relaxed seat, nor did he react visibly, however a small hint of worry started to rise inside his chest. He had prepared in advance for this.
"What did you do with that lily?"
The teen only shrugged and stayed silent for a long minute before he gathered himself to answer. "I brought it to the memorial stone."
The Hokage tilted his head a little. His eyes mirrored only curiosity and fortunately not suspicion. But it was Kushina who asked the questionthat had instantly popped up in the hokage's head.
"Why?" Kushina's voice was full with curiosity and confusion as it echoed in the empty dining room of the Hokage mansion.
The teen only shrugged, his face oddly unreadable. When he had visited the memorial stone, he had mourned for his lost friends. But right now, they were all they would stay that way,even if he had to go through hell for them. There was no more need for mourning. They were breathing, living or growing inside their mother's tummy. He would never forget them. He would never forget everything they had done for him. He shifted nervously on the floor, then suddenly hopped onto his feet, grabbed a paintbrush, and threw it at his father with a cheeky smile in an attempt to change the subject.
"Lunch break is over. And don't forget, I want my room in orange."
"It wasn't a fair win. You still can't do it without your clones," Minato complained.
Naruto shrugged and moved to the side to lean against the kitchen counter. "I learnt it, didn't I? And it works. So I won." Minato's frustrated snort echoed inside the empty dining room, and he straightened himself from the floor and grabbed the bucket of the vibrant orange paint with angry, narrowed eyes.
"Kushina…remind me in the future to never, ever make a bet with Toroku again." Laughter filled the room in the next second, and the Hokage couldn't help himself. After a short second of silent sulking he joined in, his annoyance instantly melting away when Naruto's warm laugh surpassed everyone's voice. However Minato's blue eyes traveled toward his brother from time to time.
A worried look appeared on the face of the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato as he leaned over a scroll and tapped his chin continuously with the soft brush. He hummed, lost in thought, then let out a sigh. That was the moment when another blond man appeared in the open window, sticking his golden head inside the Hokage tower. His mouth was open to speak, but when he caught sight of the worried look on his father's face, he simply closed it and hopped down in front of his leader, eyeing him for a long silent moment with tilted head.
"I don't like that expression on your face."
Minato just waved a hand and leaned back against his carved chair to fix his eyes on the ceiling. "Just some village business." Naruto raised a curious eyebrow, his eyes fixed on Minato, who in the end finally opened his mouth to speak.
"We are having trouble with the ranking process. During the war, we made on-field promotions, but we still have potential genin who need to be tested. We need to hold a chuunin selection, but we don't have enough genin for a proper assessment. I'm afraid they'll have to wait one more year until more students graduate from the academy and gain the necessary experience to participate." A small chuckle left Naruto's mouth, earning a pointed look from his father.
"This is a serious problem you know. This could reduce morale amongst the genin."
Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "I don't think so. Let's just resurrect an old practice. Invite the other nations and you will get enough participants. I'm sure the Kazekage will be eager to send some teams to show off their skills to the Wind Daimyo."
Minato tilted his head a little, observing his younger 'brother' for a long moment with an unreadable expression on his face. "You think Ohnoki and the Raikage will just send genin teams to Konoha when we've just won a war against them? Normally it would be years until the first shared exam. Maybe even a decade or more." Naruto only shrugged.
"Who knows? Invite all five Kage as well. I'm sure all of the villages are in the processes of regrouping and restoration, so all of them need extra income. They'll have to demonstrate their power if they are to get new customers and the best time for that is a good old chuunin exam where clients are gathered in one place." Naruto casually explained his point, whispering a silent thank-you to Sarutobi who had explained the exam's real purpose to him. 'It would open so many possibilities if the five Kage met in this timeline…'
"The idea is good even if it came from you, but I would absolutely argue with the timing…Low profile you know, low profile." Naruto send a mental shrug toward his never missing companion, earning an irritated groan from Kurama. The time traveler locked eyes with ones of identical color, looking for any hint to the thoughts behind those blue orbs. In the end, Minato only shrugged and made a contemplative face.
"It was years before the third shinobi war since we've last held a proper chuunin exam, that is true. And maybe having one now would bring the younger generations closer together. However I'm worried about the other nations. Most of them hold a grudge against Konoha and that could pose a high risk to the village… However… maybe…You know what? I'll consider it." A wide and satisfied grin appeared on Naruto's face. 'Success.'
Naruto glanced down at the scroll in his hands after sending another suspicious glance toward his father. He was wearing that cunning grin again, and he couldn't help but worry about the thing in his hands. He moved his gaze downward and started to scrutinize the closed scroll with wary eyes, like it could attack him or bite off his hands at any moment.
"What is this?"
"Your next assignment. It will be a long term mission. Three months long to be exact." Naruto raised an eyebrow and slowly rolled the scroll open, running his eyes over its content. When his brain finally processed the contents, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, his mind already desperately starting to look for excuses he could use, but only Kakashi's silly ones came to mind. Kurama's snicker echoed inside his mind.
"That's going to be interesting. We reap as we sow. Isn't that right, Naruto?"
"No way in hell I'm going to accept this mission."
The sly grin remained on the leader's face. "It's your choice. This, or D ranked missions for an equivalent time period."
Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously,his mind jumping between anger and disbelief. "That's blackmailing, dattebayo!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's soft chuckle filled the room in the next second as he looked at his successor with an amused expression on his face. "Indeed, that is blackmailing Minato-kun."
The Yellow Flash only shrugged and leaned back in his seat confidently. "This or D ranked missions. It's not blackmailing. I'm simply giving you two options to choose from."
Naruto slowly shook his head in his defeat and an almost animalistic groan left his mouth as he burrowed his face in his palms. His voice was muffled by his hands, but it still cracked with irritation.
"I hate you…"
The Hokage only shrugged again and a satisfied smirk appeared on his face. "Then it's decided. Welcome to the ranks of the chuunin exam's supervisors. The first two months is mostly about preparations and diplomacy. That won't fully occupy your time, so you will still receive other missions during this period until the exam starts."
"I hate you…" Naruto mumbled onto the fine paper as he rested his forehead on the long letter he had just finished writing inside the Hokage office. That had been the last invitation letter, thankfully, which would be sent to the Tsuchikage by a small delegation tomorrow morning.
"You are going to mess up the ink, and then you'll have to start over."
An irritated groan left Naruto's mouth and he finally straightened himself, revealing a small ink smudge on his nose. A soft chuckle filled the room immediately, and Minato pointed toward his own nose to show that he had been right. Naruto rubbed his stained nose hard with narrowed eyes, continuously mumbling curses toward his father.
"Don't you have a secretary for these kind of things?"
"I do, but her calligraphy by no means matches your skill." Naruto rolled his eyes, but a small amount of pride formed inside his chest at the compliment. He did work hard on ingraining those damn symbols into his fine motor muscles for countless hours. Okay, it wasn't him, mostly his clones, but still. Receiving the memories of over a thousand boring hours was, for him, equal to a torture session with Ibiki. His mind traveled back to the events at Kusa, and a frown crawled on his face. He hadn't gotten any information about Kitsuchi since they had returned from Suna. His blue orbs flashed with concern and he hesitantly turned toward Minato.
"Who will bring the invitation to the Tsuchikage?" Minato didn't look up from the paper stack in front of him as he answered.
"You want to know when I will free Kitsuchi don't you?"
"Well, yes."
"He will leave tomorrow morning, together with the other delegations. I thought it would be a sign of good will if he was the one to hand over the invitation." A satisfied smile appeared on Naruto's face as his only answer.
"Hey Kitsuchi-Ojisan!" A blond teen jumped into the circle of ANBU around the four foreign shinobi, earning some irritated glances from the already tense guards and surprised looks from the Iwa fighters. The named giant narrowed his eyes, observing the newcomer with a frown on his face while the kunoichi next to him couldn't restrain her trembling muscles, shaking with fury and the urge to attack. The commander raised his arm in front of the woman and stepped in front of Naruto.
"What do you want?" The teen locked his hands behind his neck and a bright smile appeared on his face.
"Nothing, I just came to say goodbye."
The kunoichi raised an eyebrow and shouted. "Why the hell would you do that ? To show you are superior?"
Naruto furrowed a confused brow. " Superior? Why would I do that?"
The kunoichi let out a furious snort, her eyes still flamed with hatred, but a glance from her commander immediately silenced her.
"What do you want, Odoroki Toroku?" A wide grin appeared on the teen's face as he stepped closer and raised his right hand toward the stunned commander and halted it in midair. Kitsuchi narrowed his eyes, observing the offered hand for a long silent minute, waiting for the boy to finally drop it, but his eyes mirrored only determination and nothing more. His hand moved almost unconsciously toward the outstretched hand, but paused before they could make contact
"Why are you doing this? We kidnapped you. We tried to kill you." Naruto only shrugged, his hand never moving from its place.
"What's past is past, You can't change it , but you can try to build something better for the future." Suddenly an amused expression appeared on his face, like he was stunned by a joke that only he could understand. His expression finally settled on his face as a soft smile. "So, will you fall with me? Will you be the next to fall in the domino chain?"
The commander eyed him for another long, silent and tense second as he remembered distant conversations about dominos and change, but an amused snort left his mouth in response as he finally grabbed the hand in front of him to finally shake it.
"You really are insane." A cheeky smile appeared on Naruto's face as an obvious answer.
"Yes, he is. Insane and suffering from a serious hero complex." Naruto turned his head to send an annoyed look toward the slowly approaching Minato. The Hokage stepped inside the circle and nodded toward the commander, who mimicked his greeting with a cold expression.
"Kitsuchi-san, here is the invitation letter we were talking about. Despite what happened before, we are still looking forward to seeing genin from Iwa part in the exams." The commander only nodded again and turned around to finally leave the village after an almost one month long stay in its hospitality. They stepped through the gates, together with the ANBU squad who would escort them until they reached the borders. An unconscious sigh of relief left his mouth when they were finally far enough from the gates. A cheerful yelp still reached them from behind.
"See you later at the chuunin exams! And don't forget to bring Ohnoki-jiji with you!"
"Ohnoki-jiji?!" The kunoichi raised an amused eyebrow and glanced back to the still waving teen.
"Interesting shinobi isn't he?" Kitsuchi's deep voice forced the woman out from her thoughts as she nodded her answer unconsciously, before her mind drifted back to the teen.
Naruto leaned over a blank scroll, stretching out his arms in front of him. He grabbed a small jug and a kunai to mix his blood with the black ink for a new barrier seal he was about to do. He made a small slice on one of his thumbs and raised it above the jug to let blood flow freely into it, but after one small crimson droplet, the flow suddenly stopped. Naruto frowned and repeated the process, but the small cut was almost immediately gone as soon as the blade left his thumb. The blond let out an irritated groan, and sank into his mindscape to face the snickering fox.
"You've got a very wicked sense of humor. Stop healing me!" Another animalistic snicker echoed inside his mindscape, and he was pushed out from it by a small flick of an enormous rolled his eyes while repeating the process again only to gain just another drop of his crimson red blood before the small cut disappeared from his thumb.
Naruto exploded in the middle of his room, forgetting himself he shouted out a long loud oath, mustering his entire colorful vocabulary. He was on the verge of tearing out his own shiny golden locks, when the door swung open and a concerned looking redhead peek inside the room. The blond boy froze between two words and scratched his cheek in his embarrassment.
"Eh, sorry, I accidentally kicked the table." Kushina only slowly shook her head and rolled her eyes, the ruby red locks following her movement gracefully in the air.
"Geez, you are a shinobi who manages to leave without a scratch from a spar with Minato and you are going to limp for a day because the table attacked you." Naruto only made an annoyed shrug and watched as his mother shook her head one more time before closing the door behind herself. The blond teen let out a weary sigh and sat down next to the named table once again.
'One more prank like this and I will arrange a karaoke night in my mindscape just for you!' Naruto couldn't see, but he still felt as Kurama grimaced and winced in his mindscape.
"I'm bored…"
'Occupy yourself as you always do, I don't let me work.'
"What are you doing anyway? You already made at least a dozen barrier tags."
'I'm doing this so we don't have to worry over people seeing us training. It will mask your chakra so we can train together.'
"So, you will let me out?"
'Only if you let me finish it. If anyone recognizes your chakra we'll be in big trouble.' A wide smirk appeared on the fox's face.
"That will be fun. I'm going to tear you into small pieces." Naruto rolled his eyes. Their relationship had morphed into something you could call a real friendship, but Kurama was still the nine tailed demon fox, and sometimes his old personality broke through despite their new bond. Just like with Sasuke before the chuunin exam. They had gotten along very well, but he still behaved like a bastard sometimes.
Naruto let out another weary sigh when the memory of his old friend popped up again in his head. Thoughts of him broke through the barrier he had made to barricade himself from his old life. During their first fight with the Juubi, he had sensed him near Konoha. He hadn't realized it during the battle, only when they had retreated to Suna. But when he started to look for his friend while in the desert, he couldn't find him anymore. As if he had disappeared from the face of the Earth. He didn't think he was dead. He would never think that. Something or someone somehow locked him away from his sennin mode, just like Madara had done this time and back then.
'Hey Kurama. Don't you think they are somehow connected?' The fox narrowed his eyes while he thought about the possibilities.
"Maybe." The bijuu shrugged and didn't make any other comment. He simply closed the conversation, and bedded himself under the trees to take a nap.
'You are a big help…' Naruto let out a sigh, grabbed the kunai once more to finally start work on the seal, and slammed the invisible door close in front of the memories of his raven haired teammate.
Two shinobi stood straight and tense inside a large office, facing a short, almost childlike man, who read the scroll with an emotionless face. His eyes narrowed when he finished reading, and he finally moved his gaze toward the two ninja in front of him.
"Tell your Hokage that Kiri will participate in the exams." The leaf kunoichi nodded, acknowledging his answer and waited patiently for further words.
"I will attend the finals."
A small satisfied smile appeared on the mostly stern face of the Kazekage. His gaze was fixed on the slowly whirling sand on the horizon, where the two shinobi from Leaf had departed an hour ago with his answer. He was more than glad to show Suna's growing strength to new clients and to the Wind Daimyo. The almost unnoticeable sound of rustling soft textile reached his ears, and his satisfied smile turned into a warm and caring one. His eyes immediately softened when his wife stepped inside the room with an unbelievably small sleeping baby in her arms.
Karura slowly swept a small auburn tuft away from the small child's forehead, and the Kazekage's thoughts wandered toward a certain young blond man. He silently whispered his gratitude into the soft wind of the desert in the hope that it would carry his thoughts to the Land of Fire.
Old and wrinkled skin moved as the Third Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes when he finished rereading the scroll his commander and relative had given him only minutes ago for the second time. Thoughts raced inside his head, looking for traps, and opportunities. His old eyes moved toward Kitsuchi who stood still in front of him, waiting for his order.
"Why on earth would Iwa participate in this show-off?!" Kitsuchi tilted his head to the side, looking for an answer in his own mind, then in the end only shrugged.
"I don't think they intended this to be a show-off. They need more commissions, so does our village. If we don't participate they will earn a great advantage by showing their forces to the clients." The leader raised an eyebrow and let out a doubtful and annoyed snort, but his mind already started to hover around new clients and a possibly larger income.
"I really think we should participate, furthermore I advise you to also attend the finals." A grimace appeared on the leader's wrinkled face.
"So be it. But there is no way I'm going to set a foot into Konoha unless it's for a direct invasion."
"Then please allow me to escort the genin teams." The Tsuchikage narrowed his eyes as he observed his companion suspiciously.
"Were you brainwashed or what? You hate those tree huggers. You were their captive for a month, and now you are telling me you want to go back?"
The commander stayed silent for a long moment before he finally answered. "I really believe they are seeking peace with us and with the other nations. I was convinced of this during my…captivity. I still hate them, but…I want to make sure of something for myself." Kitsuchi's eyes became foggy and unfocused, his thoughts wandering toward a certain blond shinobi, while his leader observed him with narrowed eyes.
"Make sure about what?" The commander hesitated again before he eventually gave his answer.
"That I have the courage to forgive…and to fall."
The leader raised a curious eyebrow. "Forgive whom? Konoha? They won the war, we should we forgive them? Why should you of all people forgive them? We will win the next war and we will wipe out their existence from even the history books."
Kitsuchi slowly shook his head, an unreadable expression appearing on his mostly stern features. "In war, there are no winners. Only survivors…" The Tsuchikage narrowed his wrinkled eyes and watched silently as his commander left the room without any further words.
A furious snort echoed all around the room as an enormous chakra spike sent shivers down the attendants' spines. Two shinobi with a leaf hitai-ate shifted on their legs uncomfortably while a muscular man clenched his right hand until his joints became white, restraining himself with every nerve not to smash something in his annoyance.
"So Leaf wants to demonstrate power? So be it. Tell your Hokage that Kumo will participate." One of the leaf shinobi nodded, and after a hesitant moment he opened his mouth.
"We are glad you accepted the offer Raikage-sama. Konohagakure no Sato and Yondaime-sama are also hoping for your personal attendance during the finals." The shinobi made a deep bow, not aware that the Kage's eye twitched with irritation. The Kage opened his mouth to speak, but a voice behind him interrupted his effort.
"Is the young man very similar to your Hokage still alive?"
The leaf shinobi slowly and hesitantly spoke after he shared a quick glance with his companion. "Yes Bee-sama. Toroku-san is very much alive." A wide and satisfied grin appeared on the man's face behind the Raikage.
"Great. I want to speak with him." The Raikage narrowed his eyes, observing the man who was his brother in every way but blood next to him for a long silent second.
"And you think I will let you go there alone Bee?" His only answer was a grin from the jinchuuriki.
Minato narrowed his eyes when he reached a giant glowing purple barrier, blocking their sight and senses from the inside while Kakashi jumped down next to him from a branch.
"Where is Jiraiya?"
Kakashi shrugged. "He mentioned something about research before he left." The Hokage rolled his azure eyes, and examined the barrier with increased curiosity.
"How long has he been inside?"
"For two hours sensei. He didn't let me in. He said he wanted to try something big."
The Hokage narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the barrier. When his experienced hands reached its surface and channeled some chakra into the closing seal, the purple barrier didn't disappear or let him in like he first thought it would. Minato frowned and made a wondering face, but in the end he only shrugged, and a cheeky smile ran across his features before he disappeared with a flash of his golden locks.
Naruto let out a long breath with closed eyes, before he opened them slowly and glanced toward his opponent opposite him inside the barrier, observing his actions calmly. The clone with shining red eyes, dilated pupils and widened whisker marks on his cheeks stiffened when his opponent's eyes transformed into a shade of gold, his pupils altered, but without the orange markings around his eyes. Two clones popped into existence next to him.
The clone currently controlled by Kurama grinned, his canines sticking out under his lips, twisting his face into a feral expression. Naruto grimaced at his own animalistic image, and nodded toward the clones beside him. Chakra gathered inside his hand while the other clones started to mix their own chakra into the jutsu. The rasengan in his palm first shined with an orange light from the fire chakra, before almost immediately brightening into blinding pure white when the wind chakra also mixed into the whirling orb. It didn't change the form; this time he only manipulated the nature of chakra he mixed into it. The two clones disappeared when they finished their jobs. Naruto felt a tug outside the barrier, but he had already started moving. It was too late to stop now.
In the next blink, he threw the chakra ball toward the still grinning clone at the other side of the barrier-enclosed space, but his eyes widened with shock when another figure appeared behind the suddenly frozen Kurama.
Minato's eyes widened when he turned his head and was faced with an attack sweeping right toward his head only a meter away, overwhelming his vision and his other senses. By pure instinct he immediately grabbed the clone, a split second before the ball of chakra exploded and the two figures disappeared inside the burning inferno.
A smoking man landed harshly behind Naruto's back with a loud moan, together with the still stunned Kurama, but the clone dispersed as soon as it made connection with the hard soil, filling the air with smoke. A relieved sigh left Naruto, together with the last remains of nature chakra, before he finally turned around to face with his panting father sitting on the ground, his eyes still wide, staring in front of himself with a blank expression, his body overwhelmed by the sudden rush of adrenaline.
Minato slowly gathered himself and rose from the ground to send a pointed and very angry glare toward Naruto.
The purple barrier suddenly wobbled and vanished like it had never been there. Kakashi slowly shook his head and let out a long sigh, then jogged into the center, where two blonds loudly argued over something, the edge of the Hokage's white robe still smoking a little.
"Are you out of your mind?! You could have blown everything up!"
"It was your own damn fault! You were the one who just appeared right in the middle of the attack behind my shadow clone! Did you even think about why I might have put up that damn barrier?" A small hint of panic leaked from his voice when a dangerous snarl and a proper amount of killing intent left the Hokage, freezing Naruto in his movement. However the feeling was gone in the next moment as the Yellow Flash shook off his sudden anger.
"What the hell was that anyway?" A frown appeared on Minato's face when he touched his scorched, half missing right eyebrow.
"That was a two element combo I'm currently working on." Naruto shifted his gaze to observe his scorched eyebrow and burst out laughing. "Hey! Nice new design! I'm sure your fangirls will love that."
A muffled chuckle escaped behind Kakashi's masked mouth when his one visible eye also locked on the remains of his once teacher's eyebrow. Expression disappeared from Minato's face in the next second before he folded his arms in front of his chest. He watched the hysterically laughing teen and narrowed his eyes when he noticed the restrained laugh of his student.
"'D-ranked missions for the next week." It was too much for Kakashi, seeing Naruto's sudden change in expression. He burst out with a barking snicker at the chuunin's wide eyes and gaping mouth, but the Hokage's stern voice and emotionless face directed at him immediately froze the laugh inside his body.
"You too."
"Sensei! But I didn't do anything."
A cocky smile spread across the Kage's face as he shrugged off the complaint and the childish whining of his always collected student. "You were laughing."
Minato glanced toward his still gaping other blond companion with a cold expression.
"Toroku. Briefing about the exam in three hours, in my office. Be there!" With this last stern and emotionless statement, the Hokage disappeared from the field with a flash of his golden locks, leaving behind nothing other than two still shocked and gaping teens.
Naruto's eyes were locked onto the spot where his father had disappeared from for a long silent minute, before his limbs slowly started to tremble, his eyes narrowing until only small slits were visible from his azure blue eyes, and he shouted out, "This means war, you got that!?"
"Like he can hear you…" Kakashi muttered under his breath, his arms folded across his chest. Naruto gripped the arm of the jounin and dragged him away from the clearing, continuously mumbling something incoherent, until he finally found his voice.
"You go and get pink paint. I'll go and get…" The jounin didn't listen, eventually succeeding in shrugging himself free from the blond's grip and returning to his previous posture.
"No way in hell. I won't take part in this." Naruto raised an eyebrow while he leaned down to face the young jounin.
"Are you a scaredy cat? Jounin Hatake Kakashi? What about your reputation? Are you just going to chicken out from this?" The named teen narrowed his eyes, but in the end only nodded.
"If you do what I think you are planning to do, we will be doomed to D rank missions for the rest of our lives and not for just a week thanks to you again. I won't participate. If you even touch his coat, he will skin you alive." Naruto folded his arms in front of his chest and turned away from his companion to silently sulk over his betrayer. Finally it was Kurama's voice inside his head that kicked him out from his thoughts of vengeance.
"Do you think he sensed me? Or your senjutsu?" Naruto shook his head.
'I don't think so. He was too preoccupied with evading the attack. I didn't think someone would just teleport into the middle of the barrier.' His stomach started to rumble, and a smile appeared on his face. 'I think we deserved some ramen after this training don't you think Kurama?' The named fox only rolled his giant crimson eyes.
The blond chuunin moaned in his satisfaction as the hot soup slid down on his throat, warming up his body from the inside out until it reached even his toes. He picked up the pink fishcake with his chopstick and it disappeared into the endless pit that was his stomach with another groan, while the toad sannin only rolled his eyes next to him. Ramen. The meal of God's, especially after a hard training session.
"It's easy to satisfy your needs gaki. One bowl of ramen and you're in heaven." Naruto sent a cheeky smile toward his teacher and turned back to his steaming bowl.
"Not like your needs are all that complicated either, you old pervert."
Jiraiya snorted and turned toward the other end of the counter to continue trying to sneak a peek under a woman's clothes. "There is nothing more satisfying than the sight of a perfectly curved female body."
"Yeah, especially if the named woman is blond with big boobs, not to mention deadly." Naruto muttered between two bites. Fortunately Jiraiya was too preoccupied with the discrete flash of cleavage from the brunette at the other end of the counter.
"What was that?"
"Nothing…" Naruto muttered with a full mouth before he swallowed the last remains of his meal and stretched his arms behind his head. "What will we do tomorrow?"
Jiraiya finally averted his eyes from the woman's chest to meet Naruto's "Minato told me something about D-rank missions for you and Kakashi, but I dismissed it. We'll get a day off."
A relieved sigh left Naruto. "Thank Kami…I didn't think he was being serious."
"What did you do to him? He didn't want to tell me." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Let just say that I burned his dignity a little bit." Jiraiya raised a curious eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "He used his stupid Hiraishin to invade my barrier and he appeared behind my clone when I was trying out a new attack. I literally burned most of his right eyebrow off accidentally." Jiraiya burst out in a fit of laughter for a long while until he finally composed himself.
"A small shake up never hurt anyone. Even the strongest person could be in trouble if he let his guard down in the wrong moment. "
A sour half smile appeared on Naruto's face. "Yeah…"
Jiraiya got up from his seat and tapped his shoulder. "Come on gaki, I've got some business. Will you accompany me? I want to finish some things before the briefing." Naruto nodded and followed the toad hermit along the streets of the village.
He'd already figured out their destination- they'd used the same path a hundred times when Jiraiya headed for some "research" at the bath houses. A nostalgic feeling filled his chest. He had always enjoyed these moments with the old man, just walking beside each other silently, just the two of them. It always reminded him of the old times, when they wandered around Fire country, in Konoha, or in any foreign city.
"Hey gaki!" Jiraiya's voice snapped him out from his musing, and only his reflexes prevented a new bruise on his cheek as he grabbed a scroll flying straight toward his face.
"Hey! What the hell were you thinking?"
The sennin chuckled and waved a hand "You seemed lost in your thoughts, so I thought I should shake you up a little."
"Couldn't you poke me instead or something?" Naruto's mumble died down suddenly when he realized what was in his hand. The soft surface of fine vellum rested inside his palm like a lover, and the unnoticeable amount of his own chakra pulsed faintly from inside the closing seals, together with the rhythm of his heartbeat. He glanced down at his hand, and his surprise melted into anger.
"Explain! Now! You stole it!" Naruto's voice was oddly imperious and commanding, something he gained during the Fourth Shinobi War. Strangely, Jiraiya immediately straightened himself unconsciously and opened his mouth to answer, but when he realized his actions after a moment, he instantly shook his head to ease away the urge to explain himself like he did something wrong, or he had to report something. It was…odd. He sounded just like Minato. In the end, he only shrugged to dismiss his sudden guilt and started walking to break the tension.
"Minato asked me to check it out for him, just after I had arrived. So I took it." Naruto frowned. 'That was almost four months ago.' He had completely forgotten about his scroll… A soft, almost invisible smile appeared on his face when he traced his fingers along the edges of it, but it was almost immediately replaced with a troubled frown again. Jiraiya had stolen it from his cupboard where he had hidden it. Since that time, he hadn't even thought about it. Not even when they moved to the Hokage Mansion. He was sure he couldn't open it now. If he got it back now that could only mean one thing…But he had to be sure.
"You couldn't open it either." More a statement than a question. Jiraiya only shrugged once more.
"The first layer is a simple blood seal, Minato could probably open it, after all he is a close relative of you. That seal isn't so complicated that it could tell you apart from a very close relative." Naruto just stared back to his sensei, his previous raising anger immediately disappeared and he was now hanging on to his every word. He was about to receive some proper feedback about his work, and not just sheer and harsh critique like before on his barriers.
"The second layer required your own chakra signature, it's just a standard one. The third is much trickier. It requires some kind of manipulated chakra, an elemental chakra maybe, or a mixed one, but as with all of your seals, it's confusing. It reminds me of something, but…" Jiraiya's sudden sharp glance stabbed him like a knife for a second, as if he was staring into his very soul. The third layer required Kurama's and his own mixed chakra. It couldn't be that he recognized it, could it?
"If he recognized it, we would be surrounded by ANBU and suppressor seals and not walking on the path idiot…"
"But what?"
"Nothing, just a silly idea." Jiraiya only waved a hand dismissively.
"The fourth layer is another interesting one. The existence of a specified summoning contract." Jiraiya glanced at him once more, this time his eyes only shined with curiosity.
"Have you tried to summon anything since you came here?"
Naruto shook his head instantly as a reply, maybe a little bit too fast, while Jiraiya hummed in response with a wondering face. He hadn't tried it since he getting stuck in this timeline. If he had, and it was successful, there was no way he could explain how he was able to do that without signing the contract; and if it failed, he feared that the toads would know that someone had tried a summoning. He didn't know enough about summoning contracts to risk it. Of course it would be useful if he could use the toads, but the risk was too high.
"Based on the design, I would say the necessary contract should be the toad contract." Naruto froze in place, his eyes bulging from his skull in an unnatural way. 'Shit.' He didn't dare to blink, or breathe, he just waited for Jiraiya to continue and thankfully he didn't turned back to see his shocked face. When he finally did so, Naruto's mask of utter shock was replaced with real curiosity.
"Well, this option is impossible, because I have the only existing toad contract and it doesn't contain any new names. At this time, only Minato and I are toad summoners, nobody else. It's also impossible for you to have made one of your own, the toads assured me that they know their every summoner and they don't know you. But I would still say that your contract is very similar to my toads." Jiraiya hummed again, lost in his thoughts, then he started walking again, a little slowly, waiting for him to catch up. He glanced back to Naruto, observing him curiously while he stated his next sentence.
"A kind of amphibian or reptile. A frog maybe or a salamander. Something that likes the wet weather like rain, don't you think?" Naruto only shrugged, not getting what he was referring to or what he wanted from him and Jiraiya's disappointed expression didn't help him either.
"That didn't trigger anything, did it?"
Naruto made an odd grimace of perfect confusion, until he finally realized what his once-teacher was mumbling about. "You mean those déjà vu feelings? No, nothing like that."
Jiraiya let out a sigh and scratched his crown in a way Naruto had seen countless times when Jiraiya was disappointed. "It's a shame."
"Will you humor me?"
Jiraiya only ignored him and continued, making it obvious that he didn't want to reveal any of his thoughts or theories to him. "The fifth layer gaki…You were insane when you made that seal. Who the hell would put a trap on a closing seal?" Naruto only raised an eyebrow as an answer, not trusting in his own voice.
"Minato told me that you also weren't able to recognize it. With none of your other knowledge damaged, it indicates that this seal has a meaning for you, something from your memories. But this trap seal…It was familiar to me. It took me a lot of effort to finally realize why. I saw it only once, a long time ago, on the main entrance of Mount Myoboku." Naruto just stared back at the sannin with a blank expression on his face. He was beyond shocked. Too shocked to move his face muscles, and too shocked to suppress his emotions. He copied that trap exactly from that entrance. It would detect the intruder's will and if he found anything malignant it would trigger. Jiraiya observed him with scrutinizing eyes.
"If it weren't impossible I would say that you are a toad summoner, and that you've already visited Mount Myoboku. We are going to try out something."
"Your old perverted teacher is smarter than I gave him credit for." Naruto only nodded his head as an answer to both of them, his face fortunately still controlled from mirroring his shock.
"What do you want to try out?"
"The hand signs are Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Bite your finger before you do it and smear some of your blood on your palms, and after the signs slam your hands onto the ground with an equal amount of chakra for one kage bunshin." Naruto just stared, exactly like he had in the last ten minutes, while his mind froze for a second before it started to spin crazily from the upcoming panic.
"This is going to be interesting…"
'Shut up and help me... Shit…Shit…Shit…What should I do?' Naruto felt as the fox shrugged in his mindscape and after a second of consideration he finally answered.
"Go with the flow. Hell if I know what will happen. It would be worse if you refuse to do so. If you managed to summon a toad we will confess." Naruto made a hesitant step backwards to gain some space, raised his hand slowly and took a long time to stare down at it. In the end he shrugged and shook off his rising panic.
He sucked in a long breath, raised his thumb toward his pointed canine to make a small cut, and smeared the blood on his palm with the ease of an experienced summoner. Jiraya observed his every action carefully. Every movement was automatic, and screamed experience even when he ran through the hand signs and slammed his palm onto the hard surface with enough force to push the necessary amount of chakra into the seal array, but not enough to bruise his flesh. His muscle memory was perfect on how to execute the technique to call a smaller summon.
Naruto watched with a bated breath as the ink black marking of the summoning technique spread across the ground like a spider web, the familiar pattern forcing a small smile on his face, before it all disappeared into a chakra filled smoke. He didn't dare to blink, not even to let out the breath he had been holding in since he bit his thumb, waiting with muscles tensed to their breaking point for the smoke to finally clear away. Everything seemed so slow now, the mere second it took for the smoke to clear feeling like an hour.
Finally the air in his lungs left his chest together with a sigh as the smoke dispersed and he stared down at empty ground. He slowly glanced up toward his once sensei, who was staring down at the spot where a toad should be, a grimace on his face.
"Well, that is…unexpected. Apparently your name was erased from the summoning contract." Jiraiya made one more disappointed scowl, before continuing, "It seems then your scroll will stay closed. I talked to Pa- he said that the seal on the entrance was developed by the first toad summoner, and that it could be that he passed this knowledge to someone. He moved to Ame before he died." Jiraiya shrugged casually, then glanced up at the sun.
"Anyway. I don't think it contains an attack or something dangerous. It's a fine piece, with intarsia and made from vellum so I think it contains some personal stuff. I made a similar one when I was your age. I stored my precious materials and pictures in there." Naruto made a grimace. In both amusement and in disgust. He could only imagine what kind of precious materials and pictures Ero-Sennin had when he was a teenager with rampaging hormones.
But, he was right. He glanced down at his hand and squeezed the scroll a little bit, before burying it deep inside his pocket. It was Pa who had once told him about Jiraiya's old habit of storing his precious things in a special scroll. So he made one of his own to store his own precious things in. The last tangible remains and relics from his old life; pictures of old friends who'd survived the Fourth Shinobi War were sealed inside the scroll. Some other photos, gathered from here and there; the hitai-ate he got from Iruka and finally, a thick orange notebook, containing pieces from his life; training plans; sketches of new seals; and it sometimes also functioned as a diary or a memoir. Or something along those lines, where he could extract his troubled thoughts during the long and sleepless nights. It was also something Pa suggested that he do.
"I think you should take it back home. We've still got almost an hour before the briefing starts. We will meet there." Naruto only nodded, almost automatically, lost in his thoughts and still under the effects of the happenings before.
He stepped into the office at the exact time Minato had ordered, his eyes wandering toward the audience sitting next to his father: the stoically puffing Sandaime, the grinning Jiraiya, the three personal advisors of the Hokage. He stepped next to a familiar shinobi after a bow toward them. Naruto grinned to Makoto, dressed completely in black, and a smile forced its way onto the face of the middle aged interrogator when their eyes met for a moment.
"And now that the last of the main examiners has arrived, we can finally start the briefing." Naruto winced when his father's stern voice reached his ears, but when he turned and faced his father he had to mask the chuckle that threatened to explode from him with a cough as he noted the thin layer of chakra surrounding his seemingly now whole and shiny right eyebrow. A henge. Minato dangerously narrowed his eyes and Naruto immediately became silent.
"Sorry." The Hokage nodded and turned his attention toward the others.
"I have already received answers from every country. All of them will send teams, and it seems we can count on at least forty genin squads." Someone cleared his throat, and Minato closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh before he turned toward the source with a straight face.
"If you would like to make a comment, please feel free to share your thoughts with us."
"I already stated my point of view, but I will remind all of you once again. We are just out of war and you are risking the security of the Village with this exam. Especially by entrusting a new recruit without any background information with this event." Naruto narrowed his eyes, but when he turned his head toward the man, eyeing his appearance curiously, he found that he didn't recognize him. But he didn't miss the old man's sharp glare toward him. Minato glanced back with an emotionless face and folded his fingers under his chin to rest his head on them.
"I appreciate your concern for the village's welfare, Danzo-san, but the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the details of the exam. We have already decided that it will be transacted. Security will be strict and strengthened; every foreign genin team will receive at least one special jounin guard and the village representatives an ANBU." Naruto frowned. 'Danzo…The same Danzo who almost became the Rokudaime?'
Minato eyed the man for a second before he continued.
"As for who I have chosen as supervisor, that matter is not of your concern. I would like to remind you that you are my advisor. I can accept your advice, or I can disregard it. If you think this is a major problem you could have introduced it to the general council when you had the opportunity. But Konoha won't back out from it now." Naruto would find this small confrontation amusing if he weren't straining his mind to dig in his memories until he finally found what he was looking for. 'Shit…Sai…The ROOT.'
It was so obvious now. The attack...the one who debilitated Minato from inside the walls. It was Danzo. Naruto buried himself into his own thoughts, cursing his own idiotic and dense brain for forgetting about that man.
The dispute ended as fast as it started with a satisfied Minato, who kept an unreadable expression on his face while secretly moaning inside his mind at the sight of the twitching eye of the old war hawk.
"Then back to the business. The first and second round will last a total of five days, those who fail either exam will leave the village immediately afterwards. The first part's supervisor will be our lead interrogator Kawa Makoto." Minato gestured toward the named shinobi, who nodded and stepped forward to speak.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama. We will follow previous examples before the war. The first will be a written test, with a stressed decision making situation, after information gathering and sharing." The Hokage nodded, not aware of his relatives riotous inner thoughts glued around Danzo.
"The second part's lead supervisor will be Orochimaru-san, who himself volunteered for this job." Minato gestured to his left, where the named Sannin emerged from the shadows like a ghost and Naruto finally left his own troubled mind and clenched his hands in his rising anger. Anger toward the snake freak and anger toward himself, because he hadn't sensed his presence in advance.
But now that the man stood almost in front of him, the disgusting smell of the reptile filling his whole nose. His troubled brain didn't process the meaning of his sentences when he started talking, even his voice was disgusting. It was dead, cold and slimy.
He could feel as a small drop of sweat slowly ran down his spine when the slit amber eyes wandered toward him, shining with an odd sparkle which he absolutely did not like. He measured him like he was some kind of delicious food he was about to swallow whole after squeezing the life out of it. Naruto almost gagged when the tip of the long, pointed tongue sneakily trailed along his tooth behind the parted lips. His eyes locked, while the speech of the Hokage became only a distant noise.
"Supervisors will attend the second part, operate and interfere if necessary. I don't want any pointless deaths during the second ortion of the exam. The nations already have enough war casualties and I don't want to increase these numbers. Several traps will be placed all around the forest by Toroku, who will also be the supervisor of the one-on-one fights."
Minato gestured toward his brother, and frowned when he noted his trembling fists. He tracked his eyesight back to Orochimaru and concern rose inside his chest when he also realized the odd light in the amber eyes. However he couldn't identify it, unlike the blond chuunin. Naruto had already seen it in those creepy eyes. It was excitement and…hunger…hunger for power.
"Toroku." Naruto flinched from the sudden raised voice and glanced toward his father with a confused face.
"Naruto! Pay attention! We will discuss everything later."
"Y-Yes?"
"Prepare for a preliminary before the third round if necessary. We will have more participants than we first planned for." Naruto nodded.
"If there aren't any questions then we are finished." The Hokage glanced around the room, and when nobody raised his voice he nodded.
"Then the briefing is over. Toroku, I want to have a word with you." The attendees left the room after a bow or a short nod, or in Danzo's case without any motion or word.
Minato turned toward the snake summoner one more time with an unreadable expression, observing the emotionless face and the odd glint in the eyes of the man. Countless questions rose inside his chest from that look. The sannin's behavior of late was odd since Sarutobi nominated him as his successor and not his student. He became paranoid and more addicted to his research; sometimes he would barricade himself for days in the closed section of the library, and sometimes simply disappear from the village for days or even weeks.
The sannin finally averted his gaze from Minato's 'brother', and left the room along with everyone else after a small nod toward the Hokage. Only Toroku had stayed, his narrowed blue eyes following the back of the snake until he disappeared behind the entrance.
"Toroku." The blond turned around to meet his father's eyes.
"Yes?"
"Did you have a confrontation with Orochimaru?" Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow.
"No. I didn't even talk to him. Why?" Naruto felt as a droplet of sweat ran down his spine by the obvious lie. Well, actually it was just a half lie. He really hadn't even talked with the snake-bastard in this timeline. Minato just nodded, closing the conversation by grabbing a paper from one of the trays in front of him.
"I hate when you do this."
Minato raised an eyebrow, but didn't look up from his paperwork. "Do what?"
"Just once would you give me a straight answer? Only once in a lifetime and I will be satisfied."
Minato let out a sigh and shook his head. "Sorry, I can't talk about it."
Naruto slowly shook his own head and folded his arms across his chest. His eyes wandered toward the hands of his father, his fingers around the fine brush, to distract himself. The tactic was successful. A frown appeared on his face in the next second.
"Did you propose to Kushina like you said you would?" A satisfied smile replaced the frown when the Hokage winced at the question.
"I see. So the fearsome Yondaime Hokage, the yellow flash of Konoha, the one with the 'flee on sight' command under his name in the bingo books, chickens out because of a girl." Minato winced over the paper one more time and let out a sigh.
"No, I'm-I'm just waiting for a perfect opportunity." Naruto observed the man in front of him for a long silent second.
"I think you are just scared." Minato finally raised his head to look into the eyes of his brother, who almost made a step backward when he noted the odd sparkle in those eyes.
"Yes, I'm scared, but not because of the reasons you're thinking of. If I link her to me, I will be endangering her life. My enemies would target her, as they have already targeted you." Minato dug his face into his palms.
"I want to. I really want to. But just by wearing my name, Kushina will be in danger. What if I die and I left her with my surname? What if-if we have a child? What if my enemies go after my infant's life to have revenge against me? These questions just don't let me rest. They come up again and again." Naruto could almost see as worry radiated from his pores. 'So that is it. That is why I get my mother's surname. To protect me. Long after his death, he still looked after my life, he still gave me protection.' He stepped next to his father, and his hand moved toward his shoulder almost unconsciously to give his reassurance.
"That won't happen. I won't let you die, nor will I let anyone harm Kushina, or your future children. We are family. We are here to protect each other. Under the name of Namikaze or not. But Kushina will wear the name with pride, and not with fear, so will your children in the future. She is a kunoichi and a damn good one. Don't act like an overprotective father."
Minato stayed silent for a long second, and then finally glanced up to his brother when his soft voice one more time echoed inside the office.
"Don't be afraid, I will protect her. I promise. Odoroki Toroku never goes back on his word." Guilt rose inside his chest once again, together with yearning, forcing him to avert his gaze from his father.
He missed his old name, so damn much he couldn't even describe it. He wanted to hear his name slip from his father's lips, he wanted to end all of this, to erase the enormous walls of lies which were slowly shrouding his existence. But for the sake of everything he considered dear to him, he couldn't be selfish. This time, he had to act from the shadows as a real shinobi even if that meant he had to erase his old self. Even if Uzumaki Naruto had to perish, together with his previous achievements, from the history books.
But all of it would be worth it. If it meant that his loved ones would be safe, it was worth it. He could do it for a little longer. Only until he found that damn Uchiha. No more. Just until then.
"No. You are wrong." He snapped his head back to his father, confused, only to face his soft smile.
"It's Namikaze Toroku who never goes back on his word." Naruto stared back for a long silent second, his mind suddenly numb after it processed the words and his previous determination cracked. His lips parted to answer, but he instead nodded, unsure of his own voice. Namikaze... The name tickled inside his head for a long minute, talking down and overwhelming Kurama's voice at the back of his mind until his shocked face moved into a wide and proud smile.
That was all he wanted in his childhood.
That was what he craved for all those long, long years, to be a member of a real family. And now, in this surreal world where he finally received it from his own father, his joy and pride suddenly disappeared and was replaced with new emotions. He felt awkward, alien…and guilty. The temptation rose again with unbearable force, together with his guilt, to confess everything. He locked away the voice of Kurama, echoing inside his consciousness; he locked out everything else from his surroundings. Only two things were crystal clear. The picture of his father with the soft smile on his face and the unbearable guilt inside his own chest, squeezing his heart painfully, his soul struggling continuously from the agony.
His azure blue eyes had locked with identical ones, looking into his very soul for a long moment, increasing his struggle. He wanted to tell him everything, he wanted to tell him that he had already learned the Rasengan, that he had developed it further, that he had become strong like he wanted him to be. He wanted to see his father's eyes shining back at him proudly as he spoke his own name and not a false one. Kurama's angry voice was surpassed by the loud echo of his pounding heart.
To hell with the consequences!
His lips slowly parted, but his throat felt dryer than the desserts around Suna. When his voice finally left his mouth it was weak and sore, almost unnoticeably faint, but it stabbed the silence around them unmercifully.
"I…" His father eyed him curiously, waiting patiently for him to continue.
"I have to-I want to tell…" Naruto swallowed, to ease away the dryness of his throat, never letting go of his father's gaze, not even for a moment.
"I want to tell you something." He choked out finally. Minato sent him a small encouraging smile.
"What?" Naruto swallowed again, a soft warm breath leaving his lips as his sweat soaked hands clenched into fists from the tension gathering in his very soul. His lips parted one more time, to finally confess and to get rid of the unbearable pain inside his chest and the enormous burden he was carrying.
But the moment was disturbed by a harsh knock on the door and the secretary stormed into the office before he could say anything. When she left the office only a minute later, the moment was already gone, as was the temptation.
"Sorry. What did you want to tell me?" Naruto watched his father for a long silent minute, then in the end slowly shook his head and a soft smile appeared on his face.
"I just wanted to thank you. You can't imagine how much this means to me." His only answer was another soft and warm smile, while he desperately tried to block out Kurama's angry voice inside his head.
Author's Note:
A lot of things are forming in the background so those need a little preparation and Naruto is starting to have doubts about whether it really is a good idea to hide his identity like Kurama suggested.
Never by Dreamyin
"Poem/Poetry. Many years later, following the old advice of Ero-Sensei, Naruto decided to give a new outlet a try." (A little poem about the core of Naruto. :) )
Blind Stars of Fortune by 100demons
"Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self. (It gets a lot more complicated.) Time travel." /I'm really enjoying reading this story. It isn't just the going back, kick ass and win kind of fic, its much more about cunning and politics. /