"Hey wait up, why are you walking so damn fast anyway. Hell you didn't even stick around to eat your ramen, hey listen to me, don't just ignore me!"
Naruto ignored the girl trying to catch up to him as he raced past the people in the streets. He looked like he was in a blind panic attack, more than once he bumped into someone and got a few fingers from the locals.
Yoshino had no idea how the injured boy could run so fast in his state. His face was sweating, his heartbeat racing, everything about him spoke volumes about the turmoil he was going through.
Yoshino looked worried, she didn't know Naruto very well but he didn't seem to be a bad person. If anything the only comment she could make for him was that he was a very patient guy and didn't break down when he was under pressure. He certainly was kind to her and that only meant something about his character.
Not many of the older kids would even take the time to hang around with girls like her but he didn't seem to mind one bit. It was like he was good with children or something and that was very unusual in the Ninja world.
"Hey, slow down you are going to crash into somebody!"
Naruto didn't even hear the girl behind him; he went deep into the alley and leaned against the wall. Catching his breath he relaxed and fell down on the dirty floor with sweat streams falling through his spiky hair.
He was breathing hard and fast, and it wasn't because he was tired.
His mind was racing through things that he did not want to believe in, possibilities and hopes that were within his heart, such as yearning, a deep longing. He did not want to believe it when he heard the little girl's name; he didn't want to see her, not yet, not now, perhaps not ever.
Uzumaki.
That is what Yoshino had called her; it did not take a genius to find out who she was. Naruto was no fool, despite what many people said about him. He had outgrown that phase a long time ago and if anyone still compared him to his 12-year-old self, they got a taste of what 16-year-old Naruto could really do.
Not even Sakura dared to punch him anymore, lest she wanted something harder and faster to hit her back. His punches could break through her body, right through her intestines and squeeze through her like grape flavored pulp.
He really needed something to vent out his anger right now, where was Sakura when you needed her?
Through his contemplations the girl finally caught up to the man, huddled on the floor of the alley looking scared and lost. She didn't really know what caused him to react that way, but she figured it might have something to do with his accident. "Hey didn't you hear what I said back there?"
Naruto refused to give an answer.
"You shouldn't just go charging through crowds, you could have really hurt someone," she pleaded hoping to get a response out of him. "You could have hurt somebody you know."
Naruto still wouldn't say anything; his eyes were focused elsewhere, thinking about the next action he would take, if he planned to take any action at all. What could he do? What could he say?
"Hi I am your possible son from the future, Uzumaki Naruto. Ignore the fact that I didn't take my father's name, it doesn't mean that I am a bastard or anything"-Yeah he did not figure she would buy that.
Naruto felt a punch connect with the top of his head; he peered up at the huffing girl who was glaring down at him. She looked familiar to another girl who would also hit him in the face and Naruto was tempted to get up and slap the girl for daring to even touch him.
The last time Sakura had done that to him, he had made her pay. She couldn't sit down for weeks after receiving Kakashi's "1000 years of Pain," sadly Naruto had to spend a few weeks in jail after that incident because it was counted as sexual harassment but he thought it was worth it.
Oddly enough Sakura didn't seem to mind the Jutsu so much.
But this girl wasn't his old teammate, she didn't' know how insecure he felt about being treated like a fool. Years of being called Dead last had taken a heavy mental toll and he rarely acted as he did as a child.
In truth, he really did want to act like his old self.
He wanted to be the carefree Uzumaki Naruto. The kid who could make anyone laugh, the boy that Hinata fell in love with. He wanted to be all those things and more, but that just wasn't possible. Time has this way of healing all wounds but there were scars that just never went away.
Trapped in his heart, trapped in his soul, was a darkness that society had created and as time went on, it festered and grew until it manifested itself into the form Of 16 year old Uzumaki Naruto: A Human sacrifice who gave up so much to achieve so little in return.
"Are you eve listening to me, please say something," the softer version of the Nara girl said.
Naruto noticed something just then, he felt something near his eyes and he could see that it was wet. There was a teardrop, he looked up at the girl and saw that she was not crying so it didn't really make sense why the water was even there.
Until he noticed that, his vision was a bit blurry.
Slowly Naruto took his large left hand and wiped it on both of his eyes. The girl beside him didn't make a comment as this went and she didn't ask him about it until Naruto was done.
The boy got and wobbled next to the girl, making his way out of the alley. That meeting with a girl who might or might not be his mother should not have bothered him he chided himself, but it did.
He knew that he might meet his parents in this timeline, but he blocked it out for the moment, intentionally of course. He didn't want to face them alive, he wasn't even prepared to face them when they were dead, he nearly killed Minato when he revealed himself in his consciousness.
Gripping his knuckles Naruto fought the impulse to go back to that girl and tell her everything, but that wasn't right. He would only make himself look like some psycho; no this was certainly not the time, yet at the same it was.
He breathed in to calm himself again. Now was not the time for the whims of an orphan.
After all, he had other things to take care of.
"Thanks," he said.
Yoshino just nodded.
"I shouldn't have done that."
Yoshino did not make any comments.
"I bet that girl thinks I am strange doesn't she?"
Yoshino nodded to that; there was no denying that the boy had ruined his reputation as a cool Nisan for Kushina, that was for certain. However, Kushina herself looked a bit hurt when Naruto just looked at her with terror and ran away down into the crowds.
Kushina had enough to deal with as it is, without wondering what she had done to upset this new person. Being an orphan was not easy and it was even harder being a girl. Kushina did not have many friends to start with and the ones she did have were not exactly the most understanding.
"I should say sorry," Naruto said. He let out a breath he was holding.
"You should, it would probably be for the best," Nara mumbled.
Naruto laughed. "Boy that was weird, eh? You must think I am strange don't ya?"
"I thought you were strange before, I don't think I changed my opinion of ya much," Yoshino said, though truth be told Naruto suddenly looked a lot less cool, but at least she was talking with him on more on an even footing.
Naruto shook his head at that. "You know where that girl lives?"
Yoshino pointed to the slum district. Naruto got a thoughtful look in his eyes before blinking. The place she lived in was the same place he did, if luck would have it it might even be his old broken down apartment.
"You want the address?"
Naruto shook his head. "No, I think I might have a hunch where she lives."
Yoshino just shrugged. She didn't want to pry as to how the boy would know that, but figured that she had learned enough about him as it was.
"Hey-Uzumaki-san, you told granny that you are leaving tonight?"
Naruto didn't answer her because he wasn't sure what she was talking about but then recalled his conversation with the Nara head. "Yes. I am causing a lot of trouble for your family being there. I was thinking about getting an apartment somewhere near the town."
Yoshino scowled. "Those are pretty cheap, but its pretty dangerous now a days, you might be safer sticking with us until you're fully healed."
"True, but I think I have overstayed my welcome."
"No way! Granny totally likes you, its Shikaku isn't it? He is an ass, just ignore him."
Naruto didn't reply to that, he didn't have a problem with the boy, he liked the boy even. The black haired youth seemed like someone he could talk to, despite how young he was. "No I have no problem with your cousin, he is good kid."
"No he is a dick; you should see how he is always doing stuff to piss me off. I'll get him someday!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. He didn't get a chance to comment though as he got to the town square because he felt an ominous feeling from up above. He looked up into the sky.
"Hey what are you seeing?"
Naruto didn't answer her and continued to look for that signature he felt in the sky, the Sage sensing ability allowed him to trace back chakra through long distances and he could feel a powerful rush of it coming quickly.
Too large.
Too fast.
Too dangerous.
Scared out of his mind Naruto jumped onto the stall of the nearest booth. Some of the people looked panicked when they saw the teen in bandages take a deep breath. Yoshino just watched in awe as his chest became larger as he breathed in deep.
He started screaming up a storm. "EVERYONE RUN! THIS PLACE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!"
Not one second after he said that did the crowds star running in every direction the four winds had to offer. Naruto jumped down and grabbed the Nara girl; he tossed her over his shoulder and Shunshin'ed out into the Ramen stand.
There he saw the red-head eating her heart out, without a care in the world. Despite her protest Naruto grabbed the girl and put her over his other shoulder. Quickly running through the crowds Naruto made his way out of there before the place turned to-BOOM.
Pieces of human flesh sprayed the air as screaming people were horrified by the bloody explosive carnage around them. The explosion turned into flames and consumed many of the shop owners and Naruto was glad Ichiraku Teuchi was smart enough to take his warning because he was far away from all of this.
As the fire got larger, Naruto wondered why exactly the Anbu didn't stop this, until he noticed more and more bombs falling from the sky. He was guessing there were a lot more high profile targets than just this place. No one cared for civilians after all, Naruto himself didn't care for them either, but that might have to do with a bit of a bias on his part.
"Let me go! I can run on my own! Stupid blond!" Kushina shouted as she tried to get off Naruto, only for the blond to grip her even tighter over his shoulder. He couldn't let her go; something in him told him that if he did he would regret it, especially if she died. Whether she was his mother or not didn't matter, he couldn't let a child just walk into the flames.
"Oi, I don't mind you carrying me and all, but can you run faster those fire dragons are catching up!" Yoshino was smart enough to understand the two of them weren't exactly very quick on their feet and the man who was holding them could probably shunshin out of there much faster if needed.
Yet attempting a high-speed escape with a flaying Kushina, screaming threats of near death experiences made him a bit hesitant to take any action. The fires were morphing and twisting into dragonish figures as it engulfed the district Naruto turned back to see an old man in a wheel chair pushing for dear life as his old body was burning.
He felt bad for the old figure, but there was not really much he could do except get the kids out of here. He could take care of this mess if given enough distance. As he made a sharp turn and made a leap into the building he could see more bombs drop from the sky, it looked familiar as the shapes reminded him of C2, but that couldn't be possible because the Akatsuki Bomb expert wasn't alive at this time.
The bombs made another impact and blew up a building somewhere near the Hokage tower and more burning people came running out. Dropping Yoshino on the building Naruto made a dash for the giant flames that were turning into more animal shapes. Fire dragons. Fire phoenix. Tigers. It was an assortment of gruesome jutsus he had seen manifested onto the floors of the districts and turned human flesh into charcoal.
Naruto felt something grab his arm before he leaped back to the ground. He turned to face the angry person who grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, what the hell is your problem!"
Naruto wondered if he should slap the girl for being a goddamn idiot at that moment.
But he didn't need to as Yoshino did that for him. The smack even hurt Naruto's ears, so he felt a bit of sympathy for the red head that got the full brunt of it. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM! PEOPLE ARE FUCKEN DYING"
"I KNOW THAT! DON'T YOU THINK I SEE THAT! BUT WHAT GIVES HIM THE RIGHT TO TOUCH ME!"
Naruto didn't wait to see how the result of this battle would turn out.
Leaving the girls on the food and dropping from the 4 storey building Naruto teleported back into the earth and saw the rampage. This planned attack was well set up. He wondered how on Earth they were able to get past the Konoha Detection Barrier Dome, but again he had other things to worry about.
Namely saving people, because that is what Naruto does best
Sometimes.
There were a lot about of people that still died despite his best efforts.
Another blast shook the earth and Naruto had to force Chakra through his feet to keep himself on the ground. His muscles still felt numb from his time travel and he knew that it would be a while before he was even back on half power but he didn't have time to worry about that.
"Help us! We are trapped!" Naruto heard, his Sage hearing was coming into full focus. Like some kind of horrible superhero Naruto could pick up the voices of people in anguish, he didn't know if this was a result of Sage Chakra turning him into some kind of living Saint.
Or if this was simply some twisted desire of his to be a hero that warped his senses into picking up any chances opportunities he could find where he would be seen as some kind of savior.
In truth, he did not want to find out which answer was true.
His feet took him to the local orphanage where he saw the kids trying to get out of there. Powering up his fists with enough to Chakra to make Tsunade shake with envy he punched a giant hole through the place, as bits of wood tore like paper. The kids immediately started running out. Naruto could see that they looked badly starved, no wonder they couldn't push out the flaming wood, wood by nature wasn't heavy after all.
Walking into the place he ran into the nursery where the smaller kids were crying, he immediately made a few clones and had them carry them out. He and the little ones got out of there in time before the places blew apart sending more flaming wood to other screaming citizens.
Naruto morbidly wondered why exactly civilians were so flammable.
Even more important why didn't they stop, drop and roll?
Though when he thought about it common sense didn't exactly rule the minds of these people, they did blame him for the Kyuubi attack and that alone said a lot about their IQ.
"Chunin-san what the hell are you doing here! Get to the gates and help defend the village, let the Genin worry about this fire!"
Naruto turned to see an angry looking man with spiky silver hair and a War-ready Anbu suit fall to his level and grab him by his collar. Before he could say anything and the Anbu slammed him through a nearby wooden wall. This young man was powerful, no question about it. His eyes conveyed danger, his sharp silver hair were like razors and his angry glare reminded him that he himself wasn't the only deadly weapon around, far from it.
"I asked you a question! What are you doing here when we are supposed to be defending the village gates; you think you could take the easy way out and not risk your life fighting the enemy!" he shouted, his face was near to his own and Naruto could only gulp thinking about his excuse.
Thankfully he was saved from another Anbu dropping next to them. "Sir, we got a serious problem, you have to come and take a look at this. There is something in the gates I don't think anyone is ready to deal with, not yet."
Naruto felt himself fall to the floor as he was let go, before walking away the man turned around to give Naruto another scowl. "This isn't over; we are going to have a talk about orders when this day is done."
Then his face became a bit softer when he saw some of the children that were shaking nearby. "Still, you did a good thing, kid. Not bad, not bad at all."
Getting up from the floor Naruto didn't have time to reply as the Ninja departed. When he though this ordeal was over he felt himself catch his breath. Only to feel an enormous amount of malicious killing intent coming from outside the gates as he heard a thunderous roar break the earth.