Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies, I don't know.
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Original upload date: 4th of February
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Chance for a Prophecy
Chapter 26. – The Girl For Whom War was Unleashed
A strong hand stopped Rin from screaming by covering her mouth, another wrapped around her arms. One held her carefully against her kidnapper's chest, but somehow she could also feel fingers around her ankles.
Rin's eyes suddenly swung open when the realization hit her; there were too many arms for one man. But the only things she could see were shades of gold. She could feel the air racing around her as they tore through the night, but her sight was limited to the muscular chest of her kidnapper.
She could feel his heart pounding wildly against her own, and she could hear his harsh breathing inches above her. Rin could also feel the chakra all throughout the air. It was wrapped around her like a warm blanket, soothing her own wildly drumming heart like a mother's soft touch. It felt utterly wrong in her situation. It was warm and soothing and she couldn't shake off the disturbing feeling that it felt too good in her state.
This man was insanely powerful, too powerful for her to ever hope to face. How on earth could she have been so stupid? It was a stupid idea. Stupid, stupid, stupid. All of her tactics were counting on his slip, and it actually happened. But she shouldn't have froze up; she should have yelled; she should have shrieked or done something to alert the others that something was terribly wrong. And she tried. Only kami could tell how desperately she tried. But no one noticed that something went wrong. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi had been sleeping peacefully, unaware of her fate. Paralyzing fear swept through her, rendering her body useless.
She was sure that Jiraiya was strong enough to beat him, and they were even in a place where they didn't have to worry too much about damages. The memory of a jutsu strong enough to annihilate an entire village was still prominent in her mind. But Jiraiya was peacefully snoring now, and after this, she doubted that the power of a sannin would be enough to stop the blond.
She couldn't really understand the reasoning behind her own panic. Toroku had never showed any ill intent. He was always kind to everyone, the only exception being Gatou. And somehow when she couldn't puzzle out the connections, her mind reacted by the only way it could in that situation. By panic.
Her sudden fear was a gut instinct made by her sheer confusion.
She closed her eyes once more and tried to focus on a plan to free herself, but she could think of nothing as the warm chakra around her numbed her mind.
Suddenly, they stopped. She couldn't feel the wind against her skin anymore, and everything was quiet around them as the man's harsh, rugged breathing assaulted the silence of the night. She had already recognized the symptoms: harsh breathing, tensed, inner muscles based on the whistling sound of his lungs despite the fact that the run would have been easy for a seasoned shinobi. The wildly pounding heart and the last wild glance he gave her reminded her of a cornered animal. It was pure panic, and panicking people had the tendency to be incredibly dangerous.
The boy finally let her go, but only for a moment before a clone popped into existence and replaced the original to restrain her. The bunshin held her hands behind her back with one strong arm while the other was clapped on her mouth again. For the first time, Rin got the opportunity to have a good look at what all that gold was around her. But she really wished she couldn't see it. Golden chakra fluttered around his body like they were real flames, an inferno of pure energy. A long coat made from the same flaming power followed his footsteps, illuminating the forest line around them with it's rich light, as the bond restlessly started pacing up and down the edge of the clearing, his hands grabbing his blond locks in an attempt to channel down some of his emotions.
Despite her situation, she was suddenly surprisingly calm. She already gave up the fight as soon she saw this form. This boy was too strong for her. There was no way she could free herself.
"This is not good. This is definitely not good," Naruto muttered and continued pacing. "Shut up," he hissed, angrily this time. "Shut up." A dangerous growl escaped from Naruto's lips, and he suddenly stopped moving.
"I said shut the hell up Kurama!" the blond roared into the silent night, and a group of birds shot up from their dreams to escape the wrath of a real demon. His always clean, cerulean eyes shot a glance at the shaking girl, and Rin violently flinched when she noticed the scarlet, slit-like irises. His breathing was still harsh, but his features moved from anger to shock as soon as he saw Rin's wide and terrified eyes.
"Hey, don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." Naruto made a hesitant step, but the girl desperately tried to struggle out from his clone's hands as a fresh wave of adrenaline rushed through her veins.
The clone suddenly frozen behind Rin for a second, so did the girl as something shifted behind her. The presence, the aura and everything from the clone felt off and different from before. The bunshin opened his mouth to talk behind her, but the voice was nothing like she had heard before from the blond. A baritone boomed over the clearing, even if it wasn't louder than an annoyed mutter.
"Out of all of them, this was your stupidest idea by far, Naruto."
The named blond didn't answer, instead sinking to the ground and rubbing his face. "I didn't think. I was panicking and...I'm sorry. I messed up again," he whispered.
"What do you want to do now?"
"I don't know," Naruto muttered into his hands, still shrouding his swaying emotions on his face. After a long, tensed minute, the boy finally lowered his palms, and the flipping chakra fire gradually disappeared around him, leaving them in complete darkness beside the moon's faint, silver light.
Another clone popped into existence and walked toward the nearest tree to settle down in a meditating position. Just seconds later, an orangish pattern appeared around the bunshin's closed eyes.
A dozen more replicas appeared beside the blond and rushed into the dark forest when they saw the nod of the lonely clone at the tree. A minute later, another returned with a pile of wood, and soon, a small campfire was crackling in the middle of the forrest.
The original Naruto finally looked up from the ground and shot an annoyed glare to the clone behind the still frozen Rin. "Don't antagonize my clones."
"You still haven't answered my question. What do you want to do now?"
"I. Don't. Know," Naruto growled as he folded his arms in front of his chest in a defensive manner.
"Tell her."
"No."
"Then kill her."
"What?! No way!" Naruto lunged up immediately, eyes wide with disbelief. The girl started to tremble once more in Kurama's strong arms. Strangely, the clone let out a relieved sigh. Deep down, Rin realized that it was some kind of a test, and the blond had answered correctly. The tension in the bunshin's muscles lessened in an instant, and his grip also became softer, however, not enough to free herself.
"Then your only option is to tell her everything," the clone stated in a hushed, low tone.
Naruto didn't answer immediately. He instead averted his gaze from Rin's shaking form and sat down once more. His shoulders were stiff, and his whole posture screamed about the inner fight he was having with his own demons. "She won't believe a word. Who would believe it?"
"Then try to convince her." Naruto hesitated for a second, then slowly nodded in acceptance and raised his head to look into Rin's wide and frightened brown eyes.
The arms around Rin finally released her, but her shaking muscles couldn't hold her weight. She started collapsing to the hard ground, and Kurama's arms shot out to grab her falling form. Rin swept her head toward the clone as soon she felt his touch on her skin. However, she wished she hadn't had that opportunity for the second time that night.
Thick, ink black whisker marks and animalistic, crimson slits greeted her instead of the well known, fine features of the blond. She glanced down to her forearm and immediately shook off the clawed hand. She crawled back from the being that previously had been holding her captive, but as soon as she realized that she was slowly inching closer and closer to its creator, she hopped to her feet. Her eyes were wild and haunted by the panic suddenly squeezing her heart, despite the previous conversation she could overhear. They wouldn't kill her.
"Calm down, Rin-chan. I won't hurt you." Naruto's voice came out in a soothing manner, but it only unnerved the kunoichi even more. She twisted her body and retreated from those searching and desperate blue eyes until her back hit a tree. Even with the hard contact, she didn't stop the desperate attempt to try merging with the bark. Only Rin's last bit of sanity restrained her from clawing a big hole in the hard surface for shelter.
"W-what are you? And w-what is that?" Rin finally stuttered and raised a lean, shaking finger toward the possessed clone.
"Humans." the fox muttered with a sullen grimace on his face, twisting Naruto's borrowed mouth to reveal his pointed canines.
"Hey! You're not helping ya know!" Naruto glowered in annoyance at the clone. He leaned closer but stopped when the girl stuck to the tree even more. "Rin-chan... "Naruto exhaled softly and motioned to the still flustered fox."...He is Kurama, the nine tailed demon fox."
"What?" Rin snapped her head toward the teenager this time. "What do you mean by that? The Kyuubi is sealed in Kushina! She is it's jinchuuriki!"
"As you already know, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm the child of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. I'm Kurama's jinchuuriki. Or I will be on the day I'm born. I'm from...from the future Rin-chan."
"What?" Rin repeated, her eyes still wide but more from confusion than fear.
Naruto sucked in a long breath and started to talk. He didn't stop for long hours. He told everything that was weighing on his heart and shoulders. Gradually, Rin calmed down, but never kept from shooting a wary glance from time to time at the stoically standing Kurama. After the first long hour, Naruto's mouth became dry, but he still continued. There was too much to tell; there was too much weight to get rid of. Naruto's gaze was either focused on Rin or on the soft moss under him while speaking.
He told her about his birth. About the Kyuubi. His childhood. His days in the academy. The Uchiha massacre. About Iruka and Kakashi-sensei. Even about the scarecrow's perverted tendencies. He told her what Gatou did in his timeline, and he talked about his first chuunin exam and the Sandaime's death. How he learned the Rasengan and brought Tsunade back to Konoha to became the Godaime Hokage. About Sasuke's deflection. His training trip with Jiraiya. He told about Gaara and Kakuzu.
He told her how Jiraiya died. He spoke about his loss and how grateful he was to meet him once more. He told everything about Pein's attack, not leaving out any detail. And finally, Naruto told her about the Fourth Shinobi War, about a masked Uchiha and about Madara.
Kurama's face relaxed inside his jailor as a disturbing presence slowly faded from Naruto's mind with every exhaled word. As the burden decreased on Naruto's heart and as his posture started to relax, the fox's mind calmed down with each sentence. The dark figure continued to vanish with one last, recognizable expression on his face. A final angry snarl bubbled out from his throat, before the mirage faded away.
"I told you I won't let it happen." Kurama shot a satisfied and cocky smirk where the image had been previously and finally averted his senses to the outside word.
Rin interrupted Naruto from time to time with a well aimed question, desperately trying to get a hold on the tale.
She had no such luck. She struggled to convince herself that all of this was a lie, the over-imagination of an insane boy.
Because there was no way Minato and Kushina would die on the night their child was born. There was no way someone would order a massacre on every living and breathing Uchiha. There was no way someone would be twisted and strong enough to unleash a zombie army on the world and shove every living person into a genjutsu by collecting the bijuu. There was no way all of this could be real, was there?
When Naruto finally reached the end of his tale, how he regained consciousness in a different era, how Kurama had subdued his memories to save him from an interrogation. The blond stopped after a few minutes and fell into a silent state of apprehension. He didn't realized that his fingers were clenching his pants, waiting for the world to right itself. His azure eyes were desperate as he gazed at the girl in front of him.
Nervously, he broke the suffocating silence that had descended on them, "Do you believe me?"
Rin furrowed her brows and shook her head. "I- I don't know yet. But… so many things would finally make sense." The frown only deepened on Rin's fine features. "I thought you were one of Orochimaru's experiments first. A clone with messed up DNA and a messed up memory."
"Why does everyone think I'm a clone? I'm the one who is always making clones, not the other way around" Naruto grumbled behind gritted teeth and folded his arms in front of his chest, a familiar pout on his face, but Rin ignored him and continued.
"When I first found Orochimaru's notes about the DNA test, everything was confusing, and all my theories were crazier and crazier. I never thought about the easiest thing, never just let myself believe that the test was correct and that you were actually sensei's and Kushina-san's child. But time-travel..." Rin shook her head. "That— that's just crazy."
"You don't believe me," Naruto muttered with a low tone, his shoulders slumping. The kunoichi watched the boy in front of herself for a second before she inched closer to his side.
"I didn't say I don't believe you. It's just that— Give me some time. Will you do this for me?"
Naruto hesitantly nodded. "Does anyone else know about this? I mean, about the DNA test?"
"No. I stole the only evidence, and I didn't know to who I could have turned to for help. I didn't want to tell sensei or Kushina-san, and I also had to forgot the idea of telling Jiraiya-sama or Kakashi-kun. And when I saw how you were handling Gatou, something snapped in me, and I couldn't hold it back. I had to do something. I wanted to know. I thought with knowing your real name I would understand why you were doing it. I thought if something went wrong, I'd just scream, but..." Rin softly murmured. Then her eyes narrowed and she shot a suspicious glare at the blond. "Hey! Why didn't they wake up? Even if I couldn't scream, I was way too loud for them to have slept through it."
"I… I have a tendency to snore loud ya know." Naruto scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "So Jiraiya put up a privacy seal around their bed to filter the noise."
Another silent section greeted them until the girl finally opened her mouth. "Who was the masked man?"
Naruto didn't answer straight away. He looked up to his still possessed clone for guidance behind the girl's back. Kurama narrowed his eyes while he thought about it for a moment but shrugged.
"It's someone I know?" It was more a statement than a question. However, no answer came as Naruto was desperate to make the right decision.
"It's your choice when you want to tell, but you should tell it sooner or later. I'm running low on chakra. I'm leaving," Kurama said and turned toward the brunette for one last glance. "Take care of that idiot from the outside. And don't let him play martyr anymore. He's shouldered enough burdens alone. Help him on this journey."
Naruto was glaring daggers, but the fox ignored him. His gaze was locked on the kunoichi in front of him, patiently waiting for her answer. She finally nodded.
"I'll see what I can do."
A wide grin spread across the clone's features, and the fearless demon fox gave a small, almost invisible bow. Naruto almost missed it, but it was still there. "Thank you. It was a pleasure to finally meet you in person." The clone finally puffed out of existence after a short nod toward the frowning blond.
"Why didn't you just tell them who you were from the beginning?" Rin asked while turning to the blond with a confused expression. His reasoning was lost on her.
"I wanted to, but Kurama told me it was a bad idea back then. So I hid everything. It was so hard...I wanted to shout out who I am but I gradually submit myself. But Orochimaru made that stupid test and then Shisui and Itachi.., then Danzou, mom already knows I'm a jinchuuriki, and now you...And I... and now Kurama wants me to confess and open up. But the web of lies is too big now. I don't know where or how to start, how fix it and I'm...Everything became so messed up."uncontrolled words rushed out from his lips.
Naruto suddenly snapped his mouth shut and tensed, his gaze flickering to the edge of the thick forest, but only a clone returned with another pile of wood to feed their slowly fading campfire. In a minute, the clearing was filled again with the happy, crackling sound of life-giving flames. It gave warmth to their bodies and filled the clearing with a soft light of orange, red, and yellow that flickered on their figures from time to time, dancing amidst the shadows. The peaceful silence wasn't interrupted for several long minutes.
"It must be hard, knowing that you're so close to the parents you never had but still so far," Rin murmured softly, her gaze locked on the dancing flames.
"It is sometimes," Naruto admitted.
No word was spoken for another stretch of time until the small campfire faded away from existence once again. Only the embers were left behind to illuminite the dark night with it's fading light in the first week of July. Rin gradually raised herself and gave a helping hand to the blond.
"Come, Toro-Naruto. It's almost dawn. The other's will freak out if they don't find us in our beds."
The blond hesitantly watched the offered hand but accepted it to rise to his feet. A soft smile spread across his fine features, and with the expression still on his face, he gently hugged the surprised girl.
"Thank you, Rin-chan."
"For what?" the girl murmured into Naruto's chest.
"For listening."
Naruto shifted his grasp around the girl to pick her up, and soon, Rin found herself in his gentle arms, Naruto carrying her like a husband would do to his wife. Warm, golden chakra flickered to life, and the two shinobi were gone in a heartbeat.
"Where have you two been?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow, suspiciously observing the two shinobi in front of him.
Rin chewed down on her lower lip for a minute to gather her thoughts. She glanced nervously to the fidgeting blond at her side. "We were talking." With that, Rin passed by Kakashi to gather her stuff and finally depart to Konoha. It was a silent retreat, and the copy-cat knew that very well.
Rin never could get rid of Kakashi's probing black eyes during their travel.
The way back to Konoha was awkward, as this time Naruto's back ached because of Kakashi's stabbing glare. They leisurely reached the gates and after dumping the still unconscious Gatou at the Uchiha police station, each of them retreated to their own accommodations, allowing the toad sage to make his report alone.
Naruto's limbs were stiff from the long walk, but not in a disturbing way. It was more of a welcoming sensation for the jinchuuriki —the same tiredness in his muscles after a long training session. He didn't even stop at the Hokage tower to greet his father nor did he poke his head inside his mother's room. He went straight into his own and collapsed on the bed in his clothes to finally get his well-deserved sleep after the chaotic three weeks in Wave.
Kurama patiently waited for Naruto to finally drift into a deep sleep. His breathing relaxed and his heartrate lapsed into a slower, more peaceful rhythm. The jailor's thoughts also settled down, and his mind slowly emptied. In the next moment, his awareness sank into Oblivion.
The fox raised his enormous head from his paws while moving into a comfortable sitting position and closing his crimson eyes. His own mind cleared, and his own breathing also settled as he forced his body to move into a different state.
Something shifted around him, and the next moment Kurama opened his eyes, he was face to face with his bigger counterpart. Kurama made a sliding glance and noted with a nod that this time he managed to reappear in a different void than Kushina's seal. Kurama tilted his head to the side, letting a joint snap back to its proper place.
The Kyuubi in front of him narrowed his enormous orbs as he watched his own smaller, future form suspiciously. "What do you want now?" boomed the Kyuubi in a threatening manner. His form raised from the void to look even bigger than his counterpart.
"Do you remember the night when Orochimaru died?" Kurama asked in an indifferent tone.
"I do not remember unnecessary things." The Kyuubi's voice was both venomous and disdainful.
"That night was special. There was a disturbance in Kushina's seal. You remember now?"
"I've never been able to disturb the seal in the last five years. This damn Uzumaki seal is too strong. But indeed, perhaps I felt something." the Kyuubi admitted while he let out a yawn.
"On the night we fought with Orochimaru, I felt your hatred. It consumed Naruto's mind and even managed to corrupt my own. It must have come from you," Kurama protested.
"It wasn't from me. The disturbance you're talking about came from somewhere else entirely."
Kurama narrowed his eyes as he watched his counterpart. "Then where did it come from?"
"How should I know?" the Kyuubi spat out in an annoyed tone.
Kurama didn't answer. He instead retreated back to his jailor after a short nod toward the Kyuubi. He made a glance toward the back of Naruto's mind, where for long weeks there was another dark presence. It did nothing else then rest his back against the rough trunk of a giant ossier tree.
The moss was black and dry on the spot the entity used to sit, and some of the enormous tree's lower branches were on the verge of dying.
Even though it had finally disappeared, Kurama could still feel it's faint, almost invisible pulsing left over under the surface. Lurking deep under the roots of the tree, it was almost unrecognizable, but it was still there. Waiting under the dark shadows to rise again when it got another opportunity.
The fox narrowed his crimson eyes as his growl threatened to explode in a roar."It was your doing, you sick bastard. You were the one who disturbed our cooperation, not my counterpart." He spat out the words like they were sour venom.
Unsurprisingly, no answer came. Kurama couldn't shake the nudging feeling that the thing actually let out a long, derisory and mocking laughter under the roots.
The brush danced between the experienced fingers on the surface of the fine scroll in front of Naruto. His hands made a waltz, and new symbols appeared on the outlined seal.
"It won't work this way," Jiraiya stated in an uncaring manner. However, his searching eyes gave lie to his previous indifferent tone. He carefully swept through the fine design of the seal once more and shook his head. "It's completely unbalanced. If you're going to continue on this line, it's going to blow up."
"It won't, old man! Just stay out of my business!" Naruto retorted.
"Still too arrogant to listen to some advice?"
"I'm not. I'm not arrogant. Why does everyone said that?"
Jiraiya didn't answer for a long minute, the brush still on the spot where Naruto froze in his motion. The dry paper hungrily drank the ink into itself and the small black dot, slowly growing by each passing second until it finally reached a line before the blond could notice it.
A wide, smug smile spread across Jiraiya's face as a final answer. "I told you." The sage suddenly ducked under the table.
Naruto couldn't do anything else except blink once before the pattern viciously flared, and in the next second, it dissolved into a pile of ash with a blinding flash. Black smoke filled Naruto's room together with Jiraiya's guffaws and coughing. The blond stumbled toward his window to open it widely and finally get some breathable air. Jiraiya was on his heels, and another loud snicker bubbled out from his throat between two coughs as soon as he looked at his companion.
Naruto was covered in the black grime from head to toe, only his annoyed, but still vibrant, blue eyes disturbing the scene. His golden locks were now ink black, and his white sclera only outlined his flashing cerulean eyes on his black face. The annoyed grimace slowly disappeared from the once blond's face, and his own laughter filled the room.
"Ne, could you help me finish this?"
A soft smile spread across Jiraiya's face, and the toad sage locked the blond's head under his armpit and ruffled his hair, sending a big cloud of ash into the air. Naruto's swearing and bickering voice filled the large mansion for long minutes, but it soon turned into a laughter.
Naruto gracefully jumped into the open window of the Hokage tower. He watched his father's back as he leaned above a scroll, and he could feel the tension in his relative's muscles.
Naruto hopped into the office and leisurely strolled to the man's side to peek over his shoulder and read into the document. His right brow raised in an instant.
"What's this?"
"The new arrangement of the village council and the personal advisory body," Minato stated and leaned back in his seat to finally stretch his numb arms, not caring that he almost hit his brother in the head during the progress.
"Hey! Are you blind?! It was hard enough to tolerate you while they healed your hearing! I don't want to endure a blind Hokage," Naruto teased, but Minato ignored him, simply leaning back to examine the document once more. "Ne, are you upset or something?" Naruto asked curiously while he suspiciously eyed the scroll under his father's hands.
"No. I'm actually satisfied. With Danzou's deflection, I got an open position in the advisory body. There was a vote yesterday, and the chosen representative will be Hyuuga Hiashi. See? I told you the next one would be either him or an Inuzuka," Minato answered with a wide, smug smile on his face. "Hiashi will be here any minute to officially accept the position."
A soft knock interrupted Naruto's line of thoughts, and Rin entered the office with two Hyuuga on her heels. Naruto suck in a breath as soon as he spotted the two identical men. The only difference between the twin brothers was the proudly shining Konoha headband on Hizashi's forehead. Rin retreated next to Naruto's side while the older brother made a slight bow. His cohort did the same, and the two stepped closer.
Naruto watched the whole exchange with a deep frown on his face, and it didn't go unnoticed by Rin. When the formalities were finally finished and both she and Naruto were silently walking on the streets toward the Hokage mansion, Rin couldn't restrain the question that had been itching to surface.
"Is there a problem with Hiashi?"
Naruto made a side glance to the curious girl and shook his head. "It's complicated, Rin-chan. We can talk about it later."
The kunoichi nodded, but her curiosity hadn't settled. At least, not until they finally stepped through the doorstep of Naruto's room. Experienced fingers brushed over the privacy seal Naruto had carved into the head of his bed, and with a flicker of his chakra, their conversation was secure from unauthorized ears.
"I made a promise to Hizashi's son during my first and last chuunin exam. I promised Neji that if I became Hokage, I would change the Hyuuga clan and erase the caged-bird seal. When Neji died during the war, the Hyuuga clan also united. But I don't want it to happen the same way. I want to fulfill my promise to Neji, but still have him live to see it. Nobody should have to die this time."
"You can't just erase a hundred-year-old tradition. I don't really understand everything that happened in your timeline, but I can still see that it was the result of a chain of events. You can't just waltz to Minato or to the compound and forbid them to use it anymore. It's not that easy. You have to change their mindset first."
"I know Hiashi. He trained me on Mount Myōboku in Taijutsu when we were hiding from Madara and the Juubi. Maybe there is a way to speak sense into his strict head." Naruto furrowed his brows and chewed on his lower lip.
"Naruto." Rin shook her head slowly. "What's going inside your thick skull?"
The boy flinched at his name, but in the next moment his muscles relaxed. "I missed it," he murmured, a soft smile on his features. "My name, I missed hearing it."
"Don't change the topic. What do you want to do?"
"I don't know yet." Naruto shrugged and leaned back on his bed. He folded his arms behind his head and locked his gaze on the empty ceiling. "But I'll find a way to keep my promise," Naruto stated with a new determination in his eyes.
Naruto lazily occupied the long couch inside Minato's office. He rested his head on his folded arms while his feet hung freely over the armrest on the other side. He was on the verge of sleep again, but any time he almost drifted into his dreams, someone knocked on the door and a bunch of loud genin rushed inside the office. So he instead gave up on trying to get some rest and twisted his head in an awkward position to look at his father.
"When is Gatou's hearing?"
"Two days from now. His main charge was treason, but several vendors appeared all over Fire and Wave and charged Gatou individually with blackmailing and exortion. He will receive a long sentence in one of the prison cells of Konoha's Strict Correctional Facility. He won't be released until his hair's turned white."
"He deserves it."
"You really don't like him, do you?"
"I've got my reasons," Naruto snorted and finally rose from his twisted position to sit properly on the couch. Another soft knock could be heard from the door, and this time Inoichi, stepped inside and strolled to the middle of the office after a bow to the Hokage and a playful salute to Naruto.
"Report," Minato stated casually. However, his curiously sparkling blue eyes gave a lie to his uncaring tone.
"The T&I department has registered twenty-eight remaining ROOT troops who didn't leave with Danzou. Most of them volunteered for our rehabilitation program, but the rest refused to cooperate. They're still loyal to Danzou, and they won't change their mind. The brainwash was too deep."
"What are the options for those who refused our help?" Naruto perked up immediately, and the Yamanaka finally averted his gaze from his leader.
"We don't have too many for those who won't let go of their old life and Danzou. We either lock them in a cell or seal away their chakra and ability to hurt anyone. We could manipulate their memories, but that's merely a temporary solution. The human brain is tricky; with time, they would realize our intrusion in their minds." A deep frown appeared on Inoichi's features, and he turned back to Minato.
"I doubt any of them could ever be integrated into our troops. They'll never be able to have a normal life. They've known only this lifeform, and without a goal, without Danzou's guidance, they've lost the reason of being alive. I'm counting on several suicide attempts in their lines."
"What if we disband them? They'll eventually start to look for Danzou, and we'll know his hiding place," Naruto asked a little hesitantly, and he immediately glanced up to his father with his searching, cerulean pools.
"This… could also be an option," Minato said hesitantly. His brows furrowed as he sank deep inside his thoughts. "Inoichi. Tell this to Shikaku. We could weigh this option and find a way to track their movements. Maybe we can plant one of the Aburame's bugs to trail them. Report back when you have a complete and detailed plan." The blond interrogator nodded and left the room after a short bow to the Hokage and a thumbs up to Naruto.
With time, the two blonds returned to their previous occupation. Minato continued his silent battle with the bureaucracy while his brother continued to do nothing on the soft couch.
Minato had finally lost his interest in winning the war with the big pile of documents, and he instead directed his eyes toward his relaxed relative. A cheeky and cunning smile spread across Minato's face. "You and Rin have become very close lately."
Naruto shot a suspicious glance at his father from the corner of his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know, when a boy and a beautiful girl meet a lot privately, it could start some gossip."
Naruto shot up from his seat. His mouth was left open and his eyes were wide. "I… We… No. Yes, she's nice and beautiful… but… I would never…" Naruto vehemently tried to protest; no coherent sentence left his face. His cheeks were flaming with a crimson color.
Minato's laughter filled the whole office, and Naruto folded his arms in front of his chest in a defensive manner once more with a familiar pout already in its place. "Hey, it's not funny! I mean it! We're just friends. I would never think about her like that. I mean, she's nice and beautiful, but for one, she's too young for me, second, she likes Kakashi and third—" The sentence suddenly stuck in his throat as he eyed the maniacally laughing Minato. An annoyed expression appeared on his face.
"Can we change the topic?" Naruto muttered with an irritated expression and a massive blush on his face. "My love life is private. Even if there was anyone, it wouldn't be Rin. She's not my type."
"Why not?" Minato asked between two bouts of laughter while he desperately tried to wipe off his tears from his eyes. "It's been already more than ten months since you arrived. You're a healthy boy; I'm pretty sure there's someone who's raised your interest. If Rin isn't your type, then who is?" Naruto's annoyed expression gradually disappeared from his face, and his features became restrained. Minato's chuckle slowly died down as he eyed his suddenly silent relative for a long minute, watching as his cerulean eyes slowly drifted toward the windows to stare outside. They soon became distant and foggy as he was looking at something only he could see.
Minato weighted the situation, and this time, his voice wasn't mocking or teasing. It was soft as a parent's. "Was Sakura your type?"
Naruto stiffened and didn't answer for long minutes. His gaze was still locked outside the office. The question was left hanging in the air between the two shinobi, and with each passing second, Minato regretted his asking more and more.
But Naruto's face slowly softened, the edges of his lips turning upward into a small, kind smile. "Sakura-chan... was my teammate." Minato's surprised blue eyes flung wide open, and his muscles tensed. He didn't dare to move or even let out the breath he had sucked in in his surprise, afraid that his brother would stop. "She was my first crush. She is… she was beautiful, and a really powerful kunoichi. She was like Kushina in a lot of ways, you know." Naruto's soft smile grew into a wide grin, but he still didn't meet Minato's gaze. "She was short tempered, and she could punch so hard. I once got a concussion during her rampage."
Minato slowly let out the air he had been holding, his mouth moving into the kindest smile he could afford. He leaned onto his hands to get a comfortable position as he listened to his brother talk about his past for the very first time. And he didn't stop for a long time. He talked about his genin team, about the beautiful Sakura, about his other arrogant team member, about his perverted, lazy teacher.
Minato didn't received any important detail that could actually hint where he had came from, but the Hokage didn't care this time. He was glad for every single shard of his past. And Naruto continued. He told him tales about meaningless small events. But the weight of his burden on his shoulders lessened and lessened with each passing minute.
And for the first time in endless months, he was at ease and peace. And he also had to admit, maybe Kurama had been right this whole time. Maybe he should just tell them everything.
The next six weeks were truly the most peaceful period for Naruto ever since he had arrived there. He embraced the precious moments he could share with Rin, and finally, he had someone he could openly speak to about his problems. And Rin was a great audience. She always listened to him, helped him, supported him during the long nights they shared. They did nothing, just chatted, joked and teased each other, and Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that Rin was doing this on a purpose, but he was still glad for those moments.
Naruto was currently happily slurping his bowl of ramen, and when he finished, the empty dish joined the raising tower beside him. Kakashi sat next to him at the counter, his head lazily rested on his hand as he scrutinize his companion with a calculating gaze. Finally, the jounin raised his head and turned toward the satisfied Namikaze.
"What's between you and Rin?"
An annoyed growl bubbled out from Naruto's lips. "What's with everyone?" A cheeky sparkle appeared in Naruto's eyes in an instant. "Ohh, you are jealous, Hatake? You don't have to be. We're only friends."
It was Kakashi's turn to let out a snort. He didn't answer, but the nib of his ears turned a flaming crimson, and he showed his back to Naruto.
"It's okay then," Kakashi finally murmured, but it didn't go unnoticed for Naruto's sharp ears. His mouth perked up into a wide smile.
"Hey, do you want to spar?"
Kakashi finally turned, and after a half minute of hesitation, he nodded and was already on his feet.
"What are your clones doing?" Rin glanced at the lonely bunshin in the corner of Naruto's room. It had been sitting there in a meditating pose ever since she arrived. Only the slow rise and fall of his chest indicated that it was breathing (which sounded quite strange since they were talking about a bunshin). The girl slowly walked closer to the motionless clone and raised her hand to poke it on the forehead between the orangish outline of its eyes.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the clone stated casually, not even giving a glance to the girl.
Naruto let out a chuckle and went next to Rin. "He is gathering senjutsu chakra. When I enter sage mode, I become a sensor. I can feel every living shinobi in Fire country."
"Everyone?" Rin raised a doubting eyebrow. "Where's Kakashi-kun?"
Naruto glanced at the clone who was more than eager to prove the previous statement. "At training field seven since I entered sage mode."
"Where's Jiraiya-sama?"
"At the bath. Researching."
Rin took a moment to digest the information before asking, "And where're Minato and Kushina?"
The clone's face suddenly reddened and his amber eyes snapped open, his face moving into the perfect mirror of shock. Even his ears flamed with a vicious scarlet. "What?" Naruto asked warily, but the blushing clone only shook his head vehemently.
"Trust me boss, you don't want to know."
Naruto and the clone stared at each other with strange expressions while Rin looked on in confusion.
"I think I let you disperse yourself only during the night when I'll already be asleep." The clone eagerly nodded, and no other words was exchanged about what the clone had seen. Or more likely sensed.
The trio settled down into a pleasant state of silence. Rin occupied herself with a thick medical scroll while Naruto was busy to outline a new type of seal. The girl glanced toward the motionless clone from time to time. In the end, she couldn't stand it anymore.
"Who are you looking for?"
Naruto didn't answer for a long minute, but Rin could feel that she tapped into something sensitive as the question hung above their heads like a guillotine's sharp blade. Just as she was about to give up the hope that she would actually receive an answer, Naruto's low tone stabbed the silence.
"I'm looking for Madara. I've still got time before he will manipulate Tobi."
A deep, confused frown crawled up Rin's face. "Tobi? The masked guy? Why do you want to save him?"
"Because he was just a puppet, a tool in Madara's hands who danced as that bastard pulled the strings. I didn't think too much about him, but now that I've thought more and more about it, everything was too odd. Madara was an ancient leader who fell from grace, faked his own death, came to despise what was once his clan. And yet he saved a boy from that same hated family out of sentiment. But that boy was something else... During the fight, he told us that he wanted to get out, to leave the cave, but they wouldn't let him. And suddenly he was allowed to the outside world only to witness his loved one's death." Naruto shook his head. "Madara was old and weak, and he needed someone who would carry out his will. He had found Tobi to influence and use as a mere tool, like a figure on the chessboard."
"He really loved her, didn't he?"
Naruto made a side glance and measured Rin up from head to toe. The blond averted his cerulean pools once more to stare out of his window. "Yeah. He really loved you."
"What?" Rin's eyes widened and she swept her head toward the blond. His gaze was still locked on something nobody else could see. He dived into his memories as they continued to flash in front of his eyes.
Naruto's weak voice filled the small room. "Tobi unleashed the war and the Juubi on the world to revive a person. The girl for whom war was unleashed was you, Nohara Rin. You died on a mission in Kiri around this time. Kakashi had to..." Naruto shook his head once more in an attempt to get rid of the disturbing memories. "You died, and Obito couldn't endure it. He was the one under the mask. He survived the damage during your last mission, and Madara found him, healed him, manipulated him until he became a tool of a madman. But it won't happen this time. Kiri and Konoha are allies now. We can save Obito's sanity."
His only answer was silence. Time froze while Rin's hand shakily clenched around the soft bedsheet under her knees. Naruto continued in the hopes that it might calm her down.
"I've been trying to find him ever since I regained my memories. As I said, with sage mode I can sense everybody, but until now, I couldn't even get a glimpse of him. He must be under some sort of seal, like the ones Orochimaru used in his labs—"
"Obito… Obito is alive?"
Naruto still didn't turn, but when he felt the bed shifting under him as Rin inched closer, he moved to face the shaking girl. "Obito is alive?" Rin repeated once again. Her voice was raspy and faltering by the sudden grip around her throat. Naruto watched the girl for an infinite, tense minute. Only Rin's unsteady breathing could be heard in the silent room. The blond slowly nodded, and in the next moment, Rin hurled into his arms.
Tremoring hands clenched desperately onto his clothes, the sweet and salty tears of relief soaking his attire. Naruto slowly raised his hands to give a reassuring hug to the quietly shaking Rin. She wasn't hysterical, only silently crying with one or two muffled sobs.
"I knew it," Rin whimpered into the soft fabric of his soaked and crumpled shirt. "I've always known it."
"Ne, Naruto," Rin exhaled softly into the empty training ground. Her back was resting against one of the three thick training poles, and the named blond leisurely laid on the soft grass with his folded arms below his head. His azure eyes were locked on the same toned sky and the soundlessly floating, puffy white clouds.
"Don't call me that outside. Someone might hear."
"You said no one's even good enough to sneak up on you besides Kakashi-kun."
"In my timeline. But here and now, it's happened way too much for my liking," Naruto muttered, his eyes still locked on the blue sky. He suddenly raised one of his arms to point toward an unassuming puff of white. "Hey! That one looks almost like Kakashi! That's his crazy hair and it got only one eye, see?"
Rin traced back his pointing finger and grimaced. "Your imagination's wild. That one looks like a horse, not poor Kakashi-kun."
Naruto tilted before twisting his head to the side with a concentrating frown on his face. "It still looks like Kakashi to me."
"Can I ask you something?" Naruto nodded, and Rin immediately utilized the permission. "What happened to Obito? I mean, you told me a lot of things already, but I still don't understand. He was so much like you. He was always cheerful and clumsy, and he always stated that he wanted to become Hokage and I...I just can't understand how he could have changed so much."
Naruto slowly raised himself and inched closer to the pole to mimic Rin's posture. "I don't know exactly what he went through, but I think I can understand him more than anyone. Being lonely is hellish."
"But still. That idiot. I'm angry, you know? Even if I would have died, I would never approve something like that. I'm ashamed of his actions. How did he think that killing so many people only for my sake would give him any happiness? If he would have really love me that much, I would have been more than happy to see him become Hokage and live a happy life."
"He hasn't done anything yet," Naruto reminded her in a hushed tone.
"But it's already inside him. And it hurts. I feel betrayed because with that dream word he would have forgotten me, It's like he wants to create some… copy rather than treasure the time we'd spent with each other. I-I don't want to be forgotten," Rin pressed, but her gaze suddenly became distant and her features softened. "I always believed in him, that he would have been a great Hokage. I was sure he would make it if he was dedicated enough. But now, I'm doubting it. I'm doubting him."
"It won't happen this time, Rin-chan," Naruto murmured softly. His gaze traveled up once more to the sky to spot a lonely eagle as it slowly circled above them. "I think Minato wants something."
Rin traced back his gaze and nodded, slowly straightening from her seat. The majestic bird's continuous circles were getting smaller and smaller as it slowly floated closer to them until it soundlessly landed atop of Rin's pole. The girl raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the blond, but the graceful predator didn't avert its gaze from the kunoichi.
"I think the one Minato wants to see this time is you, Rin-chan." The girl nodded once more, and with a flicker of her chakra, she was gone.
"She's a nice girl, isn't she? No kidding a war was unleashed for her." Naruto turned toward the eagle with a wide smile on his face.
It didn't answer, only tilted his head to the side as it eyed the still smiling blond with it's sharp, amber eyes.
A faint knock interrupted Naruto's nap. He slowly rose from his bed to look out of the window, and the remains of his previous dream were instantly gone. His brow shot upward as he spotted the crouching ANBU on his ledge and hurriedly moved toward and opened the window.
"Hokage-sama summons you. He's waiting in the office." Naruto nodded and the messenger retreated back into the long shadows. Nothing even hinted at his existence once he was gone.
Naruto glanced toward the slowly setting sun, and a deep, troubled frown crawled up on his face. The last beams of the dying orb covered everything with an ominous crimson shade. The Hokage monument in the distance seemed to burn in the fire of the vicious light.
With one troubled glance at the reddish glowing Hokage monument, Naruto jumped out from his window to rush toward his destination.
Naruto ran his azure pools along the people in the office, and he couldn't shake off the nudging feeling from the back of his mind that something was very wrong. Everyone was tense beyond words, all attendants waiting for Minato to finally speak.
Kakashi was leaning against the hard wall in the back of the office, his hands casually buried in his pockets, but Naruto could still see the strain in his back despite his lazy composure. Kushina was also there, silently standing next to Kakashi while Jiraiya soundlessly sat on the couch Naruto used for napping during the past, pleasant weeks.
Shikaku stood next to his leader as a silent support, his eyes closed shut and his arms folded in front of his chest.
Only Rin was missing.
An ominous feeling viciously crawled up on his spine from inch to inch, until it settled around his throat to squeeze it. His mouth suddenly became dry, and the hair on the back of his neck rose.
"What happened, Minato?" Naruto asked in a cautious, low tone. But his father didn't look up to meet with his demanding gaze nor did he blinked for long time. His eyes were carefully glued on his empty desk like a statue's. Only his telling wince indicated that he had actually heard the question.
Minato finally opened his mouth, but no words came out at first. Nor for his second try. He could whisper out his words with a shaky voice only at his third attempt. "Nohara Rin was killed in action."
The world slipped out from under Naruto's feet, and his senses dulled. Minato continued to talk, but Naruto couldn't comprehend any further word of it. He heard nothing. He felt nothing. His father was still talking, but Naruto shakily turned and swayed out from the office without a word.
Nobody tried to stop him.
His eyes were stinging, his mouth was dry, and an invisible force painfully clenched his throat and his chest, but no tears came this time to give him any respite from his sorrow. Naruto silently walked through the village, letting his feet take the lead.
He finally reached the familiar training ground where he had first became a ninja. When later he tried to remember how he reached his destination, he couldn't. It was too painful to be aware.
The birds happily sang their mockingly cheerful song, not caring about Naruto or his misery. Crickets and cicadas joined into the joyful sonata and the soft wind used the tender grass and the leafs as her harp. Mother nature didn't care about his feelings. She smugly rubbed her ignorance into his face.
His fist clenched into fist and his nails dug painfully into his palms in a sudden rush of anger, burning his insides like hot acid. Rage was growling inside his core, filling his mind with its dense red fog.
Blood gathered in his palms and traveled down from his hands as his nails finally teared into his flesh, only to land on the hard ground which gluttonously drank up every droplet of the crimson essence. His eyes still stung from the unleashed tears, his throat was closed by the lump, but no tears came out from his pools.
A small blue bird hopped on a tree branch next to Naruto and joined nature's happy symphony with its own derisive aria.
At that very moment, something snapped inside him. It could have been his heart or his sanity. He wasn't quite sure himself when he later thought about the until now growing fury overflooded his dam in an instant, and devastating anger washed over his form. With a quick motion, he punched the ground in front of him in an attempt to dismiss his anger. The soil shattered, tussocks flying into the air to land far away from him.
But nothing changed.
Naruto punched once more, this time with more force. But it didn't give him any redemption. So he didn't stop. He kicked, screamed, and punched everything around him until his limbs and throat became sore and the knuckles of his hands raw and bloody. Powerful jutsu struck, and chakra whirled around him viciously during his rampage. He left nothing untouched. The edge of the thick woods were charred, the ground shattered, and the three thick poles lay on several faraway parts of the destroyed training field.
He suddenly stopped as all power disappeared from his sore and strained limbs. Only his harsh raspy breathing and his pounding heart echoed around him. But it didn't help him at all. His anger vanished and devastating emptiness took its place.
Thankfully though, the birds stopped singing their mockingly cheerful melody.
Naruto's eyes traveled toward the far end of the training field where the memorial stone stood out from the destroyed landscape. He gradually turned and dragged himself until he finally reached the monument.
Uzumaki Naruto silently stood in front of an obsidian stone. His sight was locked on the smooth surface. The sun playfully bounced on its shiny surface in the same insulting, happy way as the birds had sung previously.
His blue orbs ran through the names already carved into the stone, then moved to the first empty part of the memorial that he knew would filled with Rin's name.
Naruto slowly sunk onto the hard soil. His teeth painfully clenched together while sorrow overwhelmed his mind. Kurama silently withdrew into the deepest part of his mind, his crimson orbs focused on something else—on a familiar entity that leisurely rested his back against a dead ossier tree once again and cheerfully hummed a rhythm. The once green grass around him was withered and black. He did nothing, just sat there with a smug smile on his face as he hummed. A low growl echoed inside Naruto's mindscape as it bubbled out from Kurama's twisted lips in a vicious way.
Two hours later, when Kakashi got the courage to look for the blond, he found Naruto on the same spot he had sank. His eyes were locked on the memorial, hazed but not from the tears. They looked somewhere else. Somewhere far away. And Kakashi didn't disturb him. He instead sat down next to the blond to lock his own teary eye on the memorial. His hitai-ate was soaked, by his hidden tears, but the wet spot was evident on the soft fabric.
They stayed like that for long time, none of them daring to disturb the other's silent mourning. It could have been minutes but it felt like never-ending hours for Naruto. And it had actually been hours since the sky was already ink black, and only the stars' faint glow gave any light to their silent form.
Finally, Kakashi let out a choked sound, and it pushed Naruto out from his own small world. The jinchuuriki slowly raised his arm and locked it around the trembling boy who was no older than fourteen. Eventually, Kakashi calmed down. Naruto slowly rose from his seat and raised his hand to his teammate. Kakashi watched the offered hand for a hesitant moment before he gradually accepted it and stood from his hunched seat. They walked side by side toward the Hokage mansion on the empty streets of the sleeping village.
"Kakashi… what happened to Rin?"
The boy didn't answer for awhile, the question left hanging above their heads in a threatening way. Finally, Kakashi let out a soft exhale.
"We still don't know the details. She left for a C-ranked mission to Kusa to support a chuunin team as a medic on an escort mission. She snuck away from her camp during the night, and the team searched through the whole area for her at the morning."
Kakashi didn't continue for a hesitant second then finally braced himself. "They found her body near the place where Obito had died."
Naruto immediately froze in motion. "How did she die?" Naruto asked ruthlessly, his voice didn't falter this time—it was a demanding order.
Kakashi also stopped. However, he didn't look up from the dirt road as he answered. His body was collected, but his voice uncontrollably trembled. "She was stabbed by a missing nin. He confused her for someone else—an Inuzuka. He wanted vengeance on the clan for his dead wife. She had to die because an idiot thought she was someone else! She shouldn't have had to die this way. It was meaningless." Kakashi started to tremble once again. "I should have been there. I promised to Obito that I was going to protect her! You understand!? His last wish for me was to protect her! He left her to me! And I failed! I failed once again! I couldn't save Obito, and I couldn't save Rin! You will also die! Sensei will also die! Everyone is going to keep dying around me! I failed, and I will fail again!" Kakashi shoved Naruto to the side and sprinted away from the blond to disappear into the chilly night.
Naruto emotionlessly stared at the point between two houses where he last saw Kakashi.
"No…" he said with a hollow voice. "The one who failed everybody was me."
Author's Note:
There are some things that had to happen. Sorry.