Writers Note:
I own nothing, not even the bad punch lines I picked up from the corners of the internet. Writer's Note:
I own nothing! Want to give a shout-out and acknowledgment to Ruffled Phoenix Feathers and their story "A Stranger in a Familiar Place" which served as the main inspiration for this story. Also want to plug in Marrei's "A Love in Time" who did a great job at fleshing out some of the sexy TobixFemNaru interactions that also gave me spicy ideas. You can find both stories below. As you already know, this is a time travel story and a look into the "in-between moments." In this story you will see my interpretation of Naruto's characterization as a woman, and as a woman growing into womanhood. Lots of exploration of grief, sex, drugs, alcohol, love, bonds, boundaries, emotions, romance, relationships, drama, trauma, choice, and BAGGAGE. "You get baggage and you get baggage and YOU get baggage" LOL.
It's going to get messy folks. There will be graphic language, violence, and lots and lots of sex some of the soft and fluffy variety and some of the nasty raw dogging variety. I might have the uncensored versions posted on A03 once I get my account set up but viewer discretion is advised and TRIGGER WARNING. Also, once we get more into the world building you'll get your questions answered about the technology and whatnot. Of course, shipping tags are TobiramaXFemNaru vs. MadaraXFemNaru vs. SasukeXFemNaru. Also, if you find yourself frustrated at how confused Naru is please cut her some slack. From what I can tell without the help of hindsight and omnipresent narration she wouldn't know many of the things, context, and history that we as the audience know. And although Kurama is there to act as her guide I don't think he would have all the answers either. I also don't even think much of the information we know would have been public knowledge either so her academy history courses would only help a little bit. We're all just going to have to accompany our blonde darling as she stumbles, fumbles, and fucks around and finds out.
Still looking for someone who wants to read my drafts!
Please send me comments and messages (not begging but kind of begging), feedback and critique are welcomed but since I'm new at writing comments and encouragement would be nice to keep me going. If you want more let it be known!
s/13515082/1/A-love-in-time
s/12015718/1/Stranger-In-A-Familiar-Place
XXX
Chapter 1: Eye Contact
With the 4th Company:
A meteor fell from the sky - the freshly revived Madara Uchiha had plucked not one but TWO meteors from outer space and brought the force of God down on the Shinobi Allied Forces. Naruto's normally sky-blue eyes dilated dark with fear as a cold chill raced down her body.
"Move" was the only word she could send to her limbs, forcing them to run for her clone's life. She ran with the rest of them desperately trying to out-pace the falling star, a star with the mass and diameter to end the entire 500,000-man army as easily as a fly swatter would turn the insect into liquid.
Eyes darting around her surroundings she could see her fellow shinobi tripping, falling, and trampling each other like a stampede of wild buffalo escaping from a pride of lions on the assault. The weaker, less coordinated shinobi (or simply just unlucky) lost their footing on the sand and lose ground snapping their ankles like twigs. The Iwa kunoichi running next to her suddenly tripped over what she assumed to be a desert rock and fell flat on her face.
She could hear a man screaming at that woman to get up but received no response. It took all the strength she had not to turn around - she really didn't want to leave the injured behind. And she might have gone back if it weren't for the little selfish voice inside her head keeping her neck completely stiff, forbidding her from going back.
"Save yourself" was all she heard.
XXX
Earlier:
Although standing far on top of the high rocky mountain she could feel Madara's eyes honing directly onto her being. She had long lost her sage mode cloak, yet she could still feel his blood-red eyes spear right through her. She was but a little orange and black speck among a large army of shinobi, but she heard him very loud and clear when he called her by her name with an absolutely crazed smile on his face.
"Naruto. Come with me."
Her blood ran cold. He wanted her – specifically her.
Ever since she was a 6-year-old living by herself in her little one-bedroom apartment Sarutobi-jiji and Iruka-Sensei had drilled into her to never go with a stranger especially if it were a man. And although this man seemed to know her, she didn't know him (nor did she want to get to know him), and stranger danger was definitely at play here.
After a brief exchange with his fellow zombie resurrect, the Uchiha decided it was time to grace them with his presence (to all of their terror).
With the most terrifying efficiency she had ever witnessed, the man in red and black proceeded to clean house with them using taijutsu alone. Armed with nothing but what she estimated to be his 36-year-old body, Madara proceeded to rip through everyone in a ballet of kicks, spins, leaps, and punches even leveraging their own weapons against them.
He was fucking with them, but he was fucking with her even more because his eyes never left her not even once.
It was like watching a predator slowly dance his way toward her. Every time he cut someone down in the most dramatic show-stopping manner, he would simply glance at her and smile. The shinobi army was trying their best to keep him away from her, but Mardara was slowly pushing through them toward her, definitely making sure she witnessed every move he made like he was putting on a show for her.
For her? Why her? What did she ever do to him? He died a century before she was born?!
Sure, being the Kyuubi's landlord meant just about every motherfucker wanted to get their freaky little hands on her. But this was different, this was way too personal. As opposed to the distant and aloof way the other masked man had spoken to her - something told her that this Madara wanted not the Nine Tails, but Naruto Uzumaki herself.
Oh, God.
Her body was spasming with fear – the bastard was still looking at her!
Then an equally disturbing realization hit her.
Although her senses had dulled from fatigue, she could not sense any blood lust or malice from him directed towards her.
She was not naive and did not believe he wouldn't hurt her. But it was almost as if he was trying to convince her to come with him voluntarily. The look on his face, when he looked at her, flashed between insanely excited grins, small mischievous curing of the lips, and an almost sensual narrowing of his eyes as he looked back at her.
"Are you watching?"
Was what he was communicating to her through his body. Kurama growled inside her, snapping and biting his fanged mouth.
She was so confused. Who was the other masked man? Who brought him back? What in the hell was going on? What did this real Madara want with her?
More importantly, what did he want to do to her?
XXX
With Sasuke:
"You brat full of Uchiha evil…declare vengeance on the Leaf huh? In that case, I'll…"
Was all the Nidaime gave Sasuke before a simple lift of the index finger followed by a flare of intense ice blue chakra shook the room like a hurricane - with winds so cold they burned his skin.
He fucked up.
"Tobirama!"
Roared the Shodaime whose own purple chakra flared so strong it cracked the floor beneath his feet.
"Lower your finger," Hashirama warned.
After 5 seconds of intense stare-off between the two, the younger brother finally conceded, dropping his finger and looking away with an uncharacteristically childish pout on his face.
"Fine brother, don't get your chakra riled up."
2 seconds passed and Shodaime broke the tension with his booming laughter. "Sorry about that! My little brother is a little overprotective at times!"
The Third Hokage let out the breath he was holding with a hand over his chest – all too familiar with the damage his former sensei could do in his boiling state. The only one in the room who could inflict more damage than Tobirama Senju was his brother, Hashirama Senju the God of Shinobi, and thank God he was able to keep his little brother in check.
After the crisis at hand had been averted the Hokages proceeded to share their tales with the young Uchiha. Sasuke listened quietly, allowing all the pieces of history to fall together – processing while still unsure where to direct his emotions upon receiving these revelations.
A quick burst of warmth interrupted the rest of their story time.
Naruto arrived on the scene fuller of life than ever. Except this was different. His Sharingan had practically memorized her chakra and he knew the color and taste of her energy like the back of his hand. Her usual warm orange flame color chakra was now gold, almost white even. Her chakra still radiated gravity all around her, pulling anyone who could sense it into her center.
She was like a searing hot star and the collision of planets all in one.
He bit the inside of his checks,
"Not now Sasuke."
Instead, he moved his suspicious eyes back to the Nidaime. The older man in his Edo Tensei form looked about 34 and was admittedly - quite handsome. With skin paler than his own and snow-white hair with streaks of silver (which could be natural or signs of age), the man truly resembled an arctic glacier.
This only surprised him more when the young Uchiha registered a strange look flash on the older man's face. The look? Something resembling worry? Softness? Desperation?
He narrowed his coal-black eyes...was it a coincidence?
XXX
With the Ten-Tails:
"Am I late?"
Naruto smiled at the yellow flash that materialized in front of her.
"You're right on time, Dad."
With Sakura's healing chakra repairing the blunt force trauma sustained by her insides, Naruto could only smile as her father appeared with his fancy coat tailing behind him. She had felt her father, Sarutobi-jiji, and two other chakra signatures come their way. And of course, that raven-haired bastard and his crew were making their way towards them as well.
"Minato, you're as fast as ever."
In a blink of an eye, Sarutobi-jiji and two other men appeared next to her father.
One man with long dark hair in red armor, and another man with spiky white hair in blue armor. They all turned to focus their attention on her, all with smiles on their faces, but each with a different kind of smile.
"Naruto, is that you my child?"
Sarutobi-jiji's eyes widen slightly, followed by one of his old man grandfather-like smiles he would give her even after her childish pranks.
She had missed that look so much.
Naruto moved her eyes to her father – she really was his child. He had the exact same spiky sunflower blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and warmth that could make plants photosynthesize.
"Naruto! Wait, I'm not done yet!" Her pink-haired teammate protested as she began to get up.
"It's fine Sakura."
Despite her insides still slightly hemorrhaging she slowly pushed herself off the ground and launched her body towards her father and grandfather to catch them in an embrace – the first time she was ever able to hug her father in flesh and blood.
"Dad! Sarutobi-jiji!"
She wrapped her arms around her father's waist and clung onto him with tears leaking involuntarily out of her eyes – must be all the dirt.
Her father petted her head gently, "Naruto, you did good baby girl, you can take a little break now."
She turned around to face her grandfather figure. He looked exactly the same as he did the last time she saw him before she had lost him. Her throat closed up like an allergic reaction.
"Sarutobi-jiji!" She flung her arms around his neck – at a mere 5'2 she was almost as tall as him now.
"Jiji…it's been so hard since you left, I've missed you so much," she sobbed into the old man's shoulder. Although the younger blonde man was her father, it was this wrinkled old man who raised her, read books to her, fed her, and protected her to the best of his abilities.
The old man squeezed her softly.
"Naruto child, let me see your face." She pulled back so he could see her.
"My child, you've grown to be so beautiful, just like your mother," the old man cupped her face with both hands. The loving look in his eyes and the sweetness of his words made her heart vibrate and her throat chokes up with love – damn seasonal allergies.
She then turned around to face the remaining two men. The man in the red armor gave her a wide grin like he was really happy to see her. He crossed the distance between the two of them; standing what had to be over 6 feet tall he towered over her. They made eye contact, and she blushed as his handsome face examined her intensely – he was realllyyy happy to see her. But who was he exactly?
She searched through the archives of her memory to find the answer, scrolling through all her academy lessons which of many, she simply skipped or checked out on. History had never been her best subject.
He had to be someone strong and important judging by the raw strength of his chakra and the way her fellow shinobi stared at him in awe – as if they were seeing a God on earth.
Wait, a God? Her eyes widened.
"Shodaime?"
The tan-skinned man's charismatic smile got even wider.
"Hai! At your service!"
She bit her lip to force back a fan-girl cry. Both her heroes the Yondaime (her father) and the Shodaime the GOD of Shinobi were standing in front of her in flesh and blood (more like paper mâché but that's not important).
The white-haired man was the last to approach her. Unlike the rest, he did not have a smile on his face, but the look in his eyes did something to her body she couldn't quite describe.
Not only did he close the distance between them, he stepped right in front of her, right in her personal bubble.
"Do you know who I am?" He asked gently with his arms crossed.
She did a second run-through of her memory records. If the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Hokages were here then...
"You're..."
"Yes? Naruto?" His voice drew out her name, almost teasing her.
"You're..."
"Cat got your tongue?" He replied with a small cheeky smile.
Her father caught onto the way to familiar tone and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
The 18-year-old blonde woman and the older white-haired man lost seconds while trapped in each other's eyes. Shiny red eyes...
Then it hit her.
"You're the second guy!"
She blurted out unintelligently while taking a step back as realization dawned on her. Proper vocabulary was unavailable to her at the moment.
There was a 3-second pause while everyone registered her reaction.
"Hahahaha!" The Shodaime exploded with laughter.
Sarutobi-jiji sighed and touched his fingers to his temple in disapproval at her poor etiquette while her father simply smiled gently at his daughter's verbal quirks – she was definitely her mother's daughter.
The white-haired man closed the remaining spaces between them and got right up in her face:
"That's Nidaime-sama to you, young lady," he purred in a deep low tone and licked his lips.
Their faces were inches from each other and the sudden proximity made her face heat up like a lamp. What was happening? What was it with all these old crusty dead men suddenly giving her weird looks and trying to invade her personal space?
Despite the embarrassment, hot blush, and sudden loss of air in her lungs she couldn't break eye contact with him.
In the most absolutely inappropriate time to have horny thoughts - up close she could see...she could see just how handsome he was even in his zombie form.
This man Tobirama Senju - the creator of the Edo Tensei, the fastest man during his tenure as leader of the village, the man responsible for the Kage Bunshin no Justu (which made up 90% percent of her jutsu arsenal), Tsunade Baa-chan's grand-uncle...
Was he...was he flirting with her?
Ohhhh. Ancestors.
By now everyone had picked up on the scandalous interaction between the older man and the younger woman. The entire shinobi world looked at them with a variety of shock, embarrassment, confusion, disbelief, and in her father's case – fatherly furry.
Not that Naruto would have been able to see any of their reactions because she was still locked in eye contact with the Nidaime. The cheeky smile never left his face but was now paired with an arch of an elegant eyebrow on his aristocratic face.
Her mind went blank, and the tension alone made certain parts of her body pulsate.
God help her. He was really hot...like really really hot.
She was going to hell for sure.
XXX
Writer's Note: DRAMA! Tell me what you think and I'm still trying to figure out the spacing issues