Chapter 3: The Twist

Naruto was sitting on top of the Hokage Monument looking out over the village and smiling. This world had not seen a Fourth Shinobi War and so did not carry the scars that his world had. Sure, according to Tsunade and Jiraiya it had still seen some hard time, they had managed to pull through and overcome the obstacles. Once again his father had proved to be a hero in the Third Shinobi War, though it wasn't just for his combat abilities this time. It was rather surprising that he had created a seal that eventually led to a whole culture of exhibitionism as a result, but shinobi tended to be pretty strange anyway, so it wasn't that odd.

Tsunade said he ultimately created it to protect your mother, even if she didn't say it in so many words, but it fits with what we know of him.

"That's true," agreed Naruto as he noticed a chakra signature walking up behind him. "Didn't figure it would take you long to find me, Jiraiya."

"What, no annoying nicknames?" asked the old hermit as he walked over and sat down next to Naruto.

Naruto shrugged, then turned and gave the old man a sad smile. "Nah, you're not my Pervy-sage, just look like him. Tsunade drove that point home back in the examination room. She looks like my Baa-chan, but she's not her."

Jiraiya nodded, understanding the sadness that Naruto was exuding. "True, but your little display back there proved you are your father's son. That technique was designed so only his family, specifically his children, could use it. Sure, he created a modified version for his personal guard to use, but that takes at least three of them to use and they have sworn never to tell anyone how it's done. The moment you vanished we all knew beyond a doubt you were telling the truth. Oh, Tsunade-hime is going to be pissed you called her on it by pointing out what she was doing, but she'll calm down soon enough."

"Maybe, maybe not, we'll see," replied Naruto with a sad smile. "Either way, I'll never get to see my Baa-chan again."

"True, but that doesn't mean you can't make new bonds here in this world," Jiraiya pointed out. "I know you said I was dead in your world, but I already think we'll get along just fine in this one."

Naruto thought about that for a few moments, remembering when he heard about his mentor's death. "It was hard finding out Pervy-sage died, really hard. Seeing you here is strange. Your chakra feels like his and you act like him, but it's not exactly the same."

"Different life experiences and all that are going to make it a bit different, but not something you can't overcome," advised the old hermit. "Just like I can tell you aren't your counterpart here in this world, for multiple reasons, but that doesn't mean I don't want to get to know you. I can tell your life was a lot different in your world. Not just from how powerful you are, even if you are suppressing the greater part of your chakra you still stand out amongst the crowd like a beacon."

Jiraiya went silent for a moment, then turned a serious eye towards the young blond. "Your father sealed it in you, didn't he?"

Naruto thought about lying, but knew the old man would be able to tell if he did, so he nodded before explaining. "He did. He and mom died in my world, just like here, but he sealed half of Kurama's chakra in me."

"Kurama?"

"That was the foxes name," explained Naruto wistfully. "Later on a group of nuke-nin attempted to collect all the Biju in an attempt to take over the world and resurrect the Juubi. The Fourth Shinobi War was all about us trying to stop them, with myself becoming the primary weapon against them. Kurama became my partner and friend during the war and eventually we won, but Kurama was lost to me. The only way to defeat the madman that started the whole war was to rip the Juubi from him and seal it inside myself."

"Kami!" exclaimed Jiraiya, going pale at the thought of it. "You carry that monster with you now?"

"Not exactly," Naruto said, feeling that he might as well tell the whole truth. "I had already been granted trace amounts of all the other Biju's chakra, that and my own massive reserves combined with the Juubi and it created something new. I've got Junibi instead of the Juubi, a combination of the Jubi and the two tails worth of chakra I had in my system at the time I absorbed her."

"Her?"

Naruto nodded, saying, "Yeah, her. She named herself Momo and she's pretty cool. Nowhere near as crazy as Kurama was at first and a far cry from the monster the Jubi was. I've not actually met her face to face yet, so I don't know what type of animal she represents."

I can fix that if you lend me a shadow clone, Naruto-kun.

"She says we can meet her right now, if you want to?"

"Umm, sure," Jiraiya said, looking a bit nervous.

Making the required hand sign to create a shadow clone, Naruto felt Momo's chakra flowing into the construct rather than his own. In a puff of fire lace smoke, a large red and gold bird suddenly appeared in the are before them. The bird, something like a cross between an eagle and a swan, soared through the air for a moment with her twelve featherer tail flowing out behind her. When she finally landed in front of them, Naruto noticed she had the same shade of blue for her eyes that he did.

Greetings, Naruto-kun and Jiraiya-san, I'm Momo!

"You're beautiful, Momo-chan!" exclaimed the young man, getting a look of embarrassment from the bird. "What type of bird are you supposed to be?"

I'm a phoenix, Naruto-kun.

"Children of Kami and symbols of purity and hope," muttered Jiraiya before he spoke up fully. "A pleasure to meet you, Momo-san."

Same here!

Momo hopped over to Naruto and landed on his lap, rubbing her head against his cheek as Naruto stroked her plumage. Jiraiya was a bit shocked at the display of affection coming from the most powerful Biju to ever exist, but tried not to run screaming at the sheer amount of power the two exuded. Not even the Kyubi had given off this kind of power and most of what he was currently feeling was actually coming from the young man sitting next to him. Yep, Naruto was going to be a true powerhouse in this world.

"What about the other Biju in this world, are they still here?" he asked, a little worried about what Momo's presence might mean for his world.

I can feel them all except Kurama, there is no trace of him left in this world. I can also feel the Jubi's body in the moon above us, but it is truly dead now. It probably died when Kurama did as it still drew chakra from them even after it was separated into the nine Biju. Once Kurama was gone, there was not enough chakra to keep the body alive, so there are no worries about it being brought back to life.

"What about you, now that you are here, couldn't it be revived?" asked the old man, trying to understand what he was hearing.

Nope, it's gone for good. I'm a being of pure chakra, meaning I never had a body in this world or my old one. Even if I tried to inhabit that old body, it would be destroyed by my power. That and it was just icky, corrupted beyond all ability to purify it.

"So, I can't free you and let you live your own life?" asked Naruto, not wanting to think Momo was trapped inside him forever.

I'm not really sealed inside you like Kurama was, Naruto-kun. If I wanted to I could leave at any time without killing you, but I like it here. In a way you are my home now and I like my home just fine!

"Yes, well that's good, I guess," Jiraiya said, looking a bit confused. "What about when the kid dies, cause no one lives forever."

Oh, that's not going to be a worry for a long time, Jiraiya-san. Naruto is an Uzumaki and you know they can be just full of surprises.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Naruto, looking a bit confused as he continued to stroke Momo's feathers.

Don't you worry about it, Naruto-kun.

With that the phoenix vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the two men a little confused. Naruto tried asking for more details from Momo, but she would just giggle, never answering his questions. All she would say is that the other Biju would eventually seek her out, but she would make sure they knew not to cause trouble anymore. This left the two humans a bit concerned, but what could you actually say to a massively powerful chakra being? In the end they changed the topic and compared notes about their lives.

As it turned out Jiraiya in this world had also taken Naruto's counterpart as his apprentice. Unlike in Naruto's world, there had not been a need to take his counterpart from the village for three years, so the two of them had trained at home. This world's version of Naruto had participated in a second Chunin exam and been promoted, later becoming a Jonin and taking on various missions on their own. In fact, they were out of the village right now, but expected back at any time.

Naruto explained that in his world he had never gotten the chance to retake his Chunin test, so even after all this time he was technically still a Genin. Sure, he had eventually led the Shinobi forces against the clone army and been considered the commander of the shinobi forces, but he was never officially promoted. It was a bit of a sore point for him, the fact he was looked to for orders by all the Kages, but held the lowest rank of all of them. Jiraiya just laughed telling Naruto they would fix that after they tested his skills as a shinobi.

"If even half your skills are at the level you describe, you'll be a Jonin by this time tomorrow," advised Jiraiya. "Tsunade might be a bit grouchy at the moment, but she's a woman of her word and she will treat you fairly, brat."

"That's good to hear," Naruto replied with a grin. "I haven't worn my headband because this isn't my village, but I feel a bit under dressed without it."

"Who are you kidding, brat, you're overdressed these days," joked Jiraiya. "As soon as you get done testing I'll give you the Steele Skin seal, not that you probably need it with your Sage Mode, then you can run around half naked like the rest of these idiots."

"Is that the real reason they dress like they do, cause I don't think I can bring myself to dress like them," countered Naruto, blushing as he remembered some of the outfits he had already seen.

"Nah, there's more to it," the old man answered. "I think the real reason is because everyone was so relieved they made it through the war they just decided to be a bit looser attitude-wise after the war. Birth rates went through the roof after the war, we doubled the population of the village within two years. I got rich off my books, more so than before, as people seemed to accept their sexuality more. Average age around here for starting a family is now seventeen, sometimes sixteen, for most people. Shinobi tend to be healthier in that regard and I've seen a few fifteen year olds getting married, though they tend to wait until they are seventeen to start a family. Doesn't mean they aren't having sex, just that they know they need to be cautious about having kids too young. Hell, your counterpart has been in a stable relationship since they were eleven."

"Wow!" laughed Naruto with a grin. "I didn't even know what girls were back then, but I've got a question for you. Why don't you call the me in this world by name around me? What's up with that?"

"Want to keep it as a surprise, brat," explained the old hermit. "Trust me, you'll understand when you see them. Got to let an old man have a few laughs, don't you?"

"Yeah, whatever," grumbled Naruto, pouting. "As long as they don't turn out to be like Sasuke-teme, I'm good with that."

"No, your counterpart is nothing like that traitor," Jiraiya informed him, looking dead serious. "Sasuke here was an arrogant little prick that thought his eyes and his family made him better than everyone else. He was ok until he activated his eyes at eleven on a mission, Itachi activated his eyes at three, but after that Sasuke just seemed to go nuts. He was fourteen when he tried to wipe out his family. Damn near pulled it off, but Itachi distracted him for a moment and his mother stabbed him through the heart from behind."

"So, it wasn't an order from the Council to stop a revolt by the Uchiha?"

Jiraiya shook his head sadly, saying, "No, they had a revolt planned, but it was based upon Itachi getting older and being used as their primary weapon against the village. Sasuke was only an average shinobi, a fact he could not tolerate. When he found out that his clan was going to revolt and take over the village he was all for that, but when he figured out they wanted Itachi to lead them, well that was too much for him. He poisoned the majority of the clan, but he wanted to personally kill his family. He managed to ambush his father, but Itachi and his mother heard the commotion and were ready for him."

"Sounds a lot like my Sasuke," muttered Naruto. "He was always so sure he was the best, but when you proved he wasn't he would fly off in a rage. Finding out his whole clan looked down on him would have driven him over the edge."

Jiraiya nodded, sighing as he looked out over the village. "Itachi was heartbroken, he may not have liked his brother all that much, but he loved him all the same. Thankfully the kid's mother was able to help him deal with it, otherwise I would have been worried for the kid."

There was silence for a few moments before Jiraiya started speaking again. "You mentioned Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko earlier and what they became later in life. Difference here was I didn't leave them behind after I found them. Here I brought them back to Konoha with me. They were my first genin squad, before they returned home and freeing Ame. Ame is currently our strongest ally next to Suna, both of whom we've shared the Steele Skin Seal with. Nagato is the leader of his village and married to Konan. Yahiko is dating Shizune, she's there now visiting him."

"Good for them!" cheered Naruto with a grin. "He's a relative, sort of, so I want to see Nagato be happy. Does he still use the Paths of the Rinnegan?"

Jiraiya shook his head, "Not anymore. He did when they were fighting to free Ame, using the bodies of fallen enemies against their former comrades, but retired them after winning. He still has them, sealed away in case there is ever a need for them, but for the most part he believes in using his own hands rather than 'tricks,' as he calls it."

"Did the me in this world defeat Gaara like I did?"

"From the way you described that battle, the only difference is that my apprentice used a different means to wake the kid up," Jiraiya said with a smirk. "The kid couldn't reach him physically, so used a water ballon to the face to do it instead. Lucky thing I was teaching them the Rasengan at the time and they had several sealed in a scroll for practice."

Naruto had to laugh at that one, it was something he would have thought of. "Did Gaara change after that, still become the Kage for Suna?"

"Sure did," answered the old man with a grin. "The gaki is probably the best leader his village has ever had. He's managed to turn around their whole economy and strengthened ties with us."

"What about Kabuto? What happened to him after the invasion?"

Jiraiya looked over at Naruto with a look of confusion on his face. "What about him, he vanished afterwards. We assume he was killed when Orochimaru's summons attacked the wall he was guarding."

"Umm, you do know he was a traitor to the Leaf in my world, right?"

Jiraiya started swearing, standing up and starting to pace. "Son-of-a-bitch! That explains why so many of our forces died in that area! He probably helped the summons to break down the wall. We never found his body, but we never found a lot of those bodies, so we just assumed he was dead as well."

"In my world he had a technique for bringing the dead back to life, something Orochimaru-pedo taught him. He was one of the worst foes we faced during our war. He actually implanted some of Orochimaru-pedo's body in his own and started turning into the old snake faced bastard."

Now Jiraiya was really swearing, looking both pissed off and like he had just had a revelation. "That explains so many of the reports I've been getting out of Oto these last few years. We know they have a new leader, but we have never been able to find out who it is. If Kabuto did the same thing here that he did in his world it could be really bad!"

Naruto nodded, remembering some of the problems he had run into against Kabuto back home. "He's a piece of work, that's for sure. If he's doing the same type of things here, we need to take him out fast."

He is, Naruto-kun. I can feel that dark stain on this world's chakra flows.

"Crap!" barked Naruto, turning to pass the news onto Jiraiya. "Momo says she can feel it in the chakra flows of the planet, he's doing the same stuff here."

"I'll tell Tsunade, who will pass it on to the other Kages right away," Jiraiya said as he turned towards the stairs leading to the village bellow. "You stay here for now, if I need you I'll call for you. Later we've got to get your name on the Toad Contract, Ma and Pa will love to meet you. I'll calm Princess down, make sure she accepts you are telling the truth, then we'll probably need more details about the type of sick shit that little prick used in your world."

"Don't tell her about Momo, please?"

Jiraiya nodded, accepting that the kid had the right to some secrets. "I won't tell her, brat. You probably should consider it at some point, though."

"Yeah, I'll tell her when I get to know her better," replied Naruto with a sad smile.

"Give it time, brat," advised the old hermit with a smile. "She's a good person, just like the one you knew. Meanwhile, go get some ramen or something. I've got a hunch you'll meet someone there you've been dying to see."

"Oh?"

"Trust me kid, you're in for a surprise!"

With that the old man vanished, leaving Naruto to wonder who he might meet at the ramen stand. It finally occurred to him that about the only person he would want to meet, especially one that would be eating ramen, would be his counterpart in this world. With that in mind he jumped up and made his way to his favorite eating establishment. He was so excited that he forgot he could just Shunshin there, so ran like a madman down the stairs and off to meet his 'brother.'

Meanwhile, Jiraiya had just arrived in Tsunade's office and found her gazing into a large crystal ball. Knowing that she had been watching and listening to everything he and the kid had been talking about, he just flopped down on a couch and waited for her to speak. It took a few minutes, but eventually she looked up at him with a sad smile.

"I won't do anything about him containing this Momo character," she finally said. "I want to, as the Hokage it is so tempting to want to make him a weapon for the village, but then he would never forgive me."

"No, he wouldn't and neither would I, Princess," confirmed Jiraiya, all traces of the goofy pervert gone from his face. "I could tell he was speaking the truth before you decided to 'test' him, but you seemed hell bent on ignoring me. You push that kid and he's liable to leave the village forever and you'll never get a chance to know him. He reminds me so much of his father it's damned scary, but he's got that look in his eyes like Kushina used to. Combine both those factors with the plain and simple truth that he's got more chakra in his pinky than all the Kages combined, makes him someone you do not want to piss off."

"He's really that dangerous?"

"No, dangerous is not the issue," countered Jiraiya. "He would never raise a hand against this village, but neither would he ever help it either. He's seen the wars, literally and emotionally. I really looked into his eyes up there and I can tell he's carrying around a lot of emotional baggage, just like we were after the war. Give him a bit of trust and affection and he'll be your best defense against anything this world can throw at you. Try to make him a weapon and he'll walk away and leave you to rot. I won't lie, you do that to him and I'll go with him."

Tsunade looked shocked at Jiraiya's declaration. "You would choose that boy over me and this village?"

"If you try to make him a weapon, in a heartbeat," confirmed the old hermit. "If you do that, you aren't the woman I fell in love with. You're just another politician looking to get powerful off the abilities of other people, just like the Council tried to do with us, Nagato, Minato, Kushina, and my apprentice. I won't stand for it now, just like I wouldn't stand for it then."

Nodding sadly, Tsunade had to agree with him. "You're right. We didn't let it happen to others, so how can I do it to him. I just don't know how to feel about him. I mean, what do we do about him?"

"I'll tell you the same thing I told him, give him a chance," advised Jiraiya with a smile. "I can tell he's a good kid and he's already helping us, more than he know, just by being here."

"You mean the news that Kabuto is alive and moving against us from the shadows?"

"You got it in one, Princess," Jiraiya smiled. "Kid just filled a plot hole I've been dealing with for ages. Now we know what we're looking for and can warn the others before it's too late."

Naruto had just reached the Ichiraku ramen stand when he noticed Ayame sitting on a stool next to a younger looking Itachi. It really was Itachi, just younger, which ruled out Naruto's musing on whether Sasuke's parents had just reversed the names. No, this was a younger and happier looking Itachi Uchiha. Thankfully he wore a more respectable outfit than some of the other shinobi Naruto had seen, looking much like the outfit Sasuke wore before turning traitor, only his shirt was sleeveless and he didn't wear as many bandages. Ayame on the other hand was wearing a much shorter skirt and sleeveless version of what his Ayame wore at home, though she wore a regular apron over it.

Taking a seat at the counter, Ayame turned from her boyfriend and gave Naruto a warm smile. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what will you have to eat."

Walking back behind the counter, Ayame pulled out an order pad to write his order down as he started speaking. "I'll have five miso, five beef, five chicken, and a vegetable ramen!"

The look of shock on Itachi and Ayame's faces was priceless, but only Itachi spoke. "You've got to be kidding me! You're just like Uzumaki!"

"Yeah, that's me, Naruto Uzumaki at your service!" Naruto shouted with a smile. "Just arrived in the village and heard this it the best ramen anywhere!"

"Seriously?" asked Itachi. "Red's going to have a cow when they find out about you."

Ayame, letting her boyfriend ferret out the gossip, started preparing Naruto's order as Itachi kept talking. "I'm Itachi Uchiha, nice to meet you, Naruto-san."

"Nice to meet you as well," Naruto replied, holding out his hand to shake the one Itachi was holding out to him. "I've heard about your family, sorry about that by the way."

Itachi shrugged, looking a bit sad. "It's okay, I'm over it. They weren't that great anyway. I didn't know it back when it happened, but they had plans to cause a civil war here in the village. My brother was a twisted fuck, but he actually did the village a service killing them off. My mom and me, we're going to rebuild the clan into what it should have always been, a good and honorable one."

"I'm going to help as well," added Ayame as she brought the first of Naruto's orders to him. "Itachi-kun and I are getting married as soon as he turns eighteen."

A wide grin on his face, Itachi nodded. "Yep, then we're going to have a big family. Twenty, maybe thirty kids!"

"Two or three, goof," teased Ayame, swatting her boyfriend on the arm as she turned to get the rest of Naruto's order. "Your mom already told me not to push it with you. We've got years ahead of us and don't need to repopulate the whole clan by ourselves."

"Yeah, but I've got you and that's enough," Itachi agreed before turning to Naruto to explain. "Before Tsunade-sama fired the old Civilian Council, they wanted to sign me up for the Clan Restoration Act. Effectively they wanted me to have kids with my mother, they said to keep the bloodline pure, but we shot that one down. I mean it might be fine for the Hyuga to inbreed, but no way was I doing that with my mom. That's just too weird."

"Yeah, they make it work because they've got a large family to pick with, so marrying a distant cousin is ok, but even they don't expect parents and their kids to have children together," added Ayame as she dropped off the rest of Naruto's order, clearing the ten bowls he had already finished. "Sure, they have several brothers and sisters married to each other, but that's rare."

Naruto nodded, remember that before his death Neji had confided in him that the Hyuga Elders were pushing for him to marry Hinata or Hanabi. At the time it had seriously creeped him out, but Hinata later explained that inbreeding in such a large clan was much like breeding animals, sometimes you had to cross the lines to strengthen certain traits. It was never done to extremes to prevent overbreeding which could lead to birth defects and a weakened bloodline, but it did happen.

"My mom told me after I graduated that my father was also her brother," continued Itachi as Naruto ate. "The moment I heard that I told her we were changing the Clan Charter so that could never happen again. She never really liked being forced to marry her brother, but she loved him anyway, so she was cool with it. Still, she agreed that changing the charter might be a good thing for future generations, to keep the inbreeding to a minimum."

"Dude, that's messed up," Naruto finally said, finishing the last of his order. "Sounds like the Hokage did right by you guys in the end by firing the old Civilian Council. I gotta ask though, do you always tell this much of your Clan dealings to total strangers?"

Itachi and Ayame froze, each realizing how much they had just told to a self admitted total stranger. Sure, he seemed friendly, but what did they really know about him other than his name. Itachi thought about it for a moment, then realized he trusted the young man sitting next to him, even though he had never met him before. It was strange, but this Naruto reminded him of someone.

"I guess you remind me of someone," Itachi finally said, looking closer at Naruto.

"Oh yeah, who would that be?" asked Naruto, leaning back and patting his now full belly.

"My old Genin teammate," answer Itachi with a smirk. "She was a pain in the ass, always bragging about how she was going to be Hokage someday. I won't lie, I had a crush on her for a long time, but she hooked up with our other teammate and they've been together for years now."

"ITACHI!"

"Speak the demon's name, and she will appear," groaned Itachi, burying his face in his hands.

Naruto turned to see who had just shouted out Itachi's name and damn near fell off his stool at what he saw. Two young women were walking towards the Ramen stand, one of which he recognized immediately as Hinata Hyuga. Unlike his Hinata, the shy and quite girl that he had started to have feeling for before the last battle of his war, this one was anything but shy if her outfit was anything to go by. Gone was the baggy coat and long loose pants. In their place this Hinata wore a lavender track jacket that only hung down to the bottom of her ribcage, unzipped and revealing a mesh tank top underneath it that concealed nothing at all. Rather than pants she wore skintight lowrise black short shorts with a silver buckle on the front. Oddly, rather than sandals she wore some type of canvas shoe with rubber soles. It was clear this Hinata was anything but shy, and was definitely female.

However, it was the second figure that really drew his attention. Sure, there were some differences, but he recognized her immediately. That didn't mean he wasn't confused. Starting from the head down, he took in her appearance and realized why no one had told him anything about his counterpart in this world, it was because here, he was a she! In fact, other than the fact she had red hair rather than blond, she was a dead on match for his old prank technique that he had used against perverts. Waist length red hair the same color as his mother's had been, was tied back in two pigtails over her ears. Her blue eyes, the same as his own, and the matching whisker marks on her cheeks, made her look extremely cute as she stood looking at him with her mouth hanging open. That's were things got interesting, because from the neck down she went from cute to dead sexy. To start with she was wearing black sleeveless track jacket that only reached down to barely cover the bottom swell of her rather impressive breasts, held closed only by the bottom of the zipper. Unlike Hinata, his counterpart did not wear anything under the jacket, meaning her cleavage was clearly visible. From the bottom of the jacket began a very nice stretch of skin, revealing a toned stomach, he noticed she had a naval piercing, that was cut off by what he assumed was supposed to be a skirt. Made up of two squares of material about eight inches wide and ten long, one in front and he hoped one in back, the material covered her more private areas while leaving her hips and thighs uncovered. Only a chain of large steel rings connected the front and back of the outfit, meaning you could see her incredibly long legs with no interference from clothing. Like Hinata she also wore rubber soled canvas footwear.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded the young woman, pointing a finger at Naruto accusingly.

"I'm Naruto," he said, noticing that her nails were not the manicured pieces of art that a fangirl would wear. No, they might be painted black, but they were rough and chipped, showing that she was a real kunoichi and not some weak little shinobi wannabe. "Naruto Uzumaki. Who are you?"

The girl looked shocked by his name, but then pulled herself back together again, looking at him with a challenging glint in her eyes. "I'm Mito Uzumaki, but what I want to know is if you are an Uzumaki, where the hell have you been all my life!"