~Parallel Dimension~
The world seemed to materialize before Naruto, or perhaps he materialized within the world. The transport only lasted a few moments, the flash only being present for a mere moment before returning to nothingness, as though it had never happened in the first place.
Naruto breathed in the scent of blood, his blood to be precise, and quickly followed the scent. Grabbing his corpse, he quickly dug a hole before dumping his own regurgitated corpse into the dirt before covering it back up, stomping the dirt to pad it down. Wiping the dirt, saliva, and bile on his pant legs, he stood, dashing into a sprint, in search for his new "team".
He found the pair on a high ranking branch, both of whom starring upwards at some unseen force. A large snake sprang forwards, ready to strike. Naruto wanted to slash into it, claw its eyes out, stab it, but he knew that this world's version of him wouldn't do that, nor be able to.
In the end, he merely used a kunai to detour the great beast, the small in comparison blade piercing easily throw the tough scales. If anyone took the time to analyze the action, they'd say that they blade would not be strong enough to penetrate or that the velocity of the snake would force the blade to recoil, what none of these analysts would add in is the fact that the blade had been coated in a transparent layer of chakra, one that only lasted until impact but allowed for the blade to imbed itself multiple feet within the creature.
The snake made an odd screech and hiss mix at the burning sensation of the chakra as it fizzled, the small yet deep wound not healing as one of its size normally would, and the creature lost focus, missing its target and ending up slamming into the thick branch. Naruto wanted to laugh at the numerous scene but felt the situation to be a serious one and not one that allowed his humor.
"The hell were you doing, Uchiha?" Naruto asked in distaste. In question, Sasuke turned to Naruto as the blonde landed easily on the branch next to him. Sasuke held a look in his eyes, one of surprise, lingering horror, and an odd blankness of defeat, as thou the boy had given something up and quit. Naruto wrinkled his nose as if in response to a foul odor.
"Wipe that look off you faced, it's disgusting." Naruto hissed. He had to admit that badmouthing this version of Sasuke made him feel better about what the raven had put him through.
Sasuke finally proceeded the situation, scowling at the blonde's sudden incline of confidence and attitude.
"Oh shut up, dobe." Sasuke retorted snidely. Naruto smirked internally to himself at how easy this all had gone, how swift he was to replace the other version of himself, and how the others hadn't noticed the differences.
'I'll have to thank Ed sometime later, using an illusion was the right way to go!' He told himself. Edward had convinced and help teach Naruto how to use an illusion, similarly to a genjutsu, to tempt the mind of those around him to fill in the gaps with their memory.
This kind of illusion took advantage of the gaps the brain leaves due to the fact that it is constantly in control of everything at once, and such multitasking leads to things being misinterpreted or just seen different than it truly was. This kind of illusion takes advantage of this factor and either tempts the mind to make connections to explain things, such as Naruto's slightly different size, build, shade of skin color, shade of hair color, facial structure...now that Naruto thought about it, there were a lot of differences between this world's him and himself.
Sakura looked to him with a look of both surprise and gratitude, thankful for his intervening. This look turned to horror and she threw a pointing hand out to behind the blonde.
"Look out!" She yelled desperately. If it were not for her reaction, Naruto would not have managed to turn and dodge the grasp of the invading other.
The person, whose gender was indistinguishable due to a complete lack of feminine or masculine traits, growled in distaste as Naruto had evaded from his grasp. Naruto's eyes widened a mere fraction of an inch before settling back again, allowing his recognition of this person's energy type to go unnoticed. He vaguely knew this person, though not as he had from those who had betrayed him. This man had been a member of the circle who had worked on that day.
He knew that this man-yes, he knew it was a man-had not gone to extract the beings he would assume to reside inside of the boy, nor had this version helped in the original sealing, so he wouldn't recognize Naruto for who he was.
Taking a kunai with speed unseen by the others and plunging it into the man's throat with swiftness inhumanly possible, Naruto leapt back to his "friends", standing before them in a protective stance.
The past version of him had a goal, that much Naruto remembered, he wanted to become a chunin. Naruto knew this to be an impossible feat, the council either wouldn't allow him to pass due to weakness on his part or fear of what he could do if he did succeed, but he felt that letting one of his cohorts die so quickly would ruin his game.
Naruto listened as the man gurgled, grasping at the bark beneath them as if it would help him, before loosing his footing and falling to the forest below.
"Naruto! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Sakura screamed in horror, not believing that the dim witted ally was capable of murder.
"We should move before he regenerates." Naruto explained horridly, knowing that the man was not without allies who would go to their master's aid.
"Regenerates? Naruto, you killed someone." Sasuke snapped, also mortified.
'Was this the real Naruto?' He wondered silently.
"He was bragging about it to a couple others in the test room." Naruto lied as an explanation, it was the best he could give at the moment.
"I overheard him tell them that he could do it, and that he had before. He can regenerate his entire body-" Naruto crinkled his nose in disgust.
"-Similarly to how a snake sheds their skin, gross!" Sakura sighed in relief at the explanation, lifting up their earth scroll.
"I have the other one." She told him. Naruto didn't remember this part, or anything of scrolls, but he was a great roll player, grinning in pretend satisfaction and relief. Sasuke suddenly put a hand before Sakura, blocking the blond off from the pair.
"Wait, how do we know he is who he says he is?" Sasuke asked. Naruto feigned confusion whilst his heart skipped a beat.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, his tone revealing nothing.
"What is the password?" Sasuke asked. Naruto scratched his brain, trying to remember. Coming up with a blank, he improvised.
"No idea." Naruto finally responded with a shrug before turning around, leaping off of the branch to leave the area.
"Are we going to go or what?" Naruto asked loudly, not pausing to listen for a response. It wasn't long before the others were running beside him, both of them slightly slower. Sakura was in the back, having the least muscle mass of all of them. Naruto stopped suddenly on one of the branches, realizing something.
"Maybe someone who knows where the thing is should lead." Naruto stated to the others, both of whom sweatdropping at this.
It took much longer than it should have, as they managed to get turned around multiple times, one of the causes being intersection by another team, and they ended up resting for the night at one point of time, to the displeasure of Naruto who had gotten used to sleeping during the day and living during the night to avoid being spotted.
Naruto waved a hand in the air in a dismissing way.
"Nah, I can do it. You guys just get some shut eye." Naruto responded, trying to convince the others to let him keep a watching eye out for foes while they rested their battered and exhausted selves. Sasuke finally caved to Naruto's prodding, the argument having lasted the better portion of the past five minutes. Sakura groaned dramatically, as if it was her he had been arguing with.
"Just don't watch me this time." She glared at him, as if to make a point. Naruto's eye gave an unnoticed twitch, knowing that his other had no true romantic feelings for the other and finding her personality, now that they were out of danger, to be as annoying as it had been in his own world. He wanted to retort, to snap at her, to tell off her lie, but he knew that the other version of him had never done so, always taking the hits rather than defending himself.
"Oh, don't worry, dear Sakura, I'll make sure to not watch out for someone who wants to slit your throat." Naruto purred in a passive aggressive tone. Sakura hadn't heard him, already having moved on to their hiding place. Naruto sat, still as a statue, on his rock island.
The hours passed as Naruto sat, remaining still and allowing his sense of hearing to cloud his eyesight, listening for the sound of breath, of crinkling leaves, footsteps, anything.
Finally, after four hours, he felt a footstep. Focusing on the location of the person, his eyes having been closed for the past few hours so he knew the other though him asleep. He memorized the spot where the person crept, the hand he had rested in his pocket very slowly wrapping around the kunai that rested there, and he sprang forth from his location to the other.
Grabbing the other's ponytail and yanking it backwards, wrapping his arm around the others neck so the other couldn't escape. The other had been facing away from him the moment he had struck, so Naruto stood behind him.
"Give me a reason" Naruto hissed through the teeth that held the handle of his blade, the same blade that was pushed dangerously close to the other's main artery located in his throat.
"Easy, Naruto!" The other, whom Naruto recognized as Shikamaru, replied immediately and in a very alarmed tone. The grip of the blade loosened before regaining its previous edge.
"Nara, you are well aware of what this test details, we are enemies so long as we are here." If he had the wits to think clearly concerning his sense rather than trying to determine a way to appease Naruto, he would have realized just how clear and almost echo-y Naruto's voice had sounded in those moments, as though he hadn't spoken them through the Handel of a metal blade.
"Why in anyone's right mind, would anyone assume you an ally? I have no reason to assume that you didn't come here to try and steal our scrolls through violent means." Naruto continued. Shikamaru was most definitely confused as to where this had been coming from, knowing his friend to give all the benefit of the doubt to the point of it being harmful to himself, not to mention the sudden incline of speech patterns in those moments.
"If I had come here to hurt you, then I wouldn't have moved on without dealing with you when you were sleeping." Shikamaru reasoned before realizing that Naruto likely hadn't truly been asleep in those moments. He gave a soft chuckle at this realization, looking to the side as if he could see the blonde.
"Clever boy." He said in a calm tone.
"I hope you understand that I will not harm you, let's talk-" moving slowly, careful not to move too fast nor slow, Shikamaru lifted a hand from his loosened confinement and gently touched the blade on his throat, moving to the cheek of the blond in a seemingly affectionate manner.
"Easy now, you're doing good." He said in hushed tones as he slowly and carefully removed the blade, pulling it away and dropping it to the ground beside them.
Bringing his hand back to Naruto's cheek, he carefully and precisely rubbed the whisker where it met the jaw line, sensing the pulse of chakra and feeling Naruto's muscles relax slightly from behind him. He had discovered this trick when he and Naruto had been younger, though the reasoning behind it was unknown to the brunette.
An idea sprouted and took route in Shikamaru's mind, he began to stroke the pressure point, pushing very lightly where he knew the lines to be.
His father had actually taught him this part when he had asked, though it had been an eternity ago and when they had still been quite young. Deciding that Naruto was in the correct state of mind now, he gently changed their positioning so that he was now facing the blonde. The moment that he was about to speak, imprint a few demands into the impressionable state of mind, Naruto jerked back, eyes flashing open and instantly regaining consciousness. He stood in a defensive position, both kunai at the ready to slash or block, his stance was wide and low, arms almost in an X shape, his facial expression unreadable in the dim light. Naruto didn't understand how or what had just happened, but he knew it unwise to allow himself to relax around a possible enemy, that portion of his life had long since ended, and nothing solidified his newfound resolve more than the memories of this world's version of himself.
Shikamaru looked on, taken aback at the blonde's actions. Naruto pointed away from their location, a small glare on his features.
"Leave now." Naruto hissed, perhaps playing this role wouldn't be as easy as he had assumed. He realized that he would need to fix this, and fast, to avoid suspicion.
"Oh, hey wait-" Naruto called in a quiet enough tone. Shikamaru turned around, eyebrow raised, having almost been about to leap over and to a tree branch with the assistance of a shock of chakra. Naruto let his head tilt to the side, bangs acting as curtains and perfectly draining his face, a sweet smile overtaking his lips.
"We're good, right?" Naruto asked in a kind voice, Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly as his cheeks heated from Naruto's sudden adorableness, not to mention sudden attractiveness. Naruto smirked internally, he really did love playing with people's senses, he'd have to thank Nightingale when he would next see her. After a few quick and embarrassed nods from the brunette, Naruto was alone again.
Walking back over to his stump, he sat, thinking in depth of his next steps. Should he play with this further? Test it out on others? No, that would draw in too much unwanted attention. Would it happen again? Who else knew how to do...that to him? What even was that trance? He glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if the others were out or awake. Upon seeing neither of them present, he pulled out a kunai, lifting it to his face, starting on his right side.