Chapter 7: The relativity of time

"I can't believe you are leaving – again!" Kushina crossed her arms and refused to look at me.

"Yes, and I am sorry. But think about it! When my little cute nephew –"

"Or niece!" Kushina admonished me.

"- or niece is here, I won't be able to leave for years! And it's not like I am going anywhere dangerous either, it's just some training with my new summons! I'll come back as much as the training allows me to and then I'll be back completely in time for the birth."

I had been trying to calm Kushina down for hours now. She had not taken the news of me leaving again very well.

As one could have expected.

Minato had looked at me with pity in his eyes when I talked to him about my training leave. Orochi straight up laughed at me.

Gai had been fully on my side though. (YOUTH!)

Though I had to concede, telling everyone of my friends before my little sister may or may not have been a dumb move.

"Do you still want to paint the nursery today?" I asked weakly when Kushina didn't react or turn around.

BAM!

The sound of the door rattling in its hinges after getting a dose of Kushina's frustration made me cringe.

"You are an idiot," Isobu succinctly summarized that interaction.

I sighed.

"I know."

"Oh, don't you start moping. This was your plan and now you'll see it through. You still have a lot to prepare before you can even think of leaving," my turtly friend remined me sternly.

"Right, right, right. No rest for the wicked," I said and straightened myself up. A few slaps to my cheeks and I banned my broody mood to the back of my mind.

Several hours later, way after the sun had set, the Hokage was making overtime. Since finding out that he was to be a father, he had been slaving away to make sure he could get as much done before the due date as possible.

Both to make the village a better place for his child and to avoid getting murdered by a cranky Kushina for never being home once the baby had arrived.

So, I was not surprised to see him in his office working late.

But he was surprised to see me.

"Takeshi-san? Are you alright?" Minato asked wearily.

"Yes. Why?"

"You are covered in ink and leaves. And your eyes…" he trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to describe it.

"You look crazy," Isobu piped up from his porch on my head.

"Yes. That," Minato confirmed.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I boldly lied in my brother-in-law's face.

Of course, I knew that I looked a bit haggard. You try and cover pretty much the entire forest around Konoha in seals. I'll wait.

Before Minato got any ideas, I dumped the arms full of scrolls and books that I had in my hands on his desk.

Momentarily silenced, he blinked down at the mess his workspace had become and then back up at me, waiting for an explanation.

"Sealing scrolls. My personal notes on certain seals, some of your notes you gave Kushina to look over that I corrected myself, things like that. Welcome to the family. I expect you'll study them well," I intoned seriously.

And don't you dare use stupid suicidal techniques when there are perfectly good Uzumaki-style alternatives, I added silently.

Minato did not notice my admonishing stare – which was probably for the best considering that I was critiquing his would-be future actions – as he was morphing into the biggest fanboy in the Elemental Nations. I swear I could see stars in his eyes when he looked up from the scrolls.

"For me?" he asked, and his voice wobbled the slightest bit.

"Yeah?" I answered, slightly put off by the change.

I knew he would be thankful, but-

Faster than I could blink Minato vanished from behind his desk and reappeared in front of me, enveloping me in a Kushina-like hug.

"You're welcome," I murmured, slightly awkward with the unexpected armful of Hokage.

Awkward turned to mortified when I felt something wet at the crook of my neck.

'Oh fuck', I thought with wide eyes. 'I made the Hokage cry!'

I helplessly patted Minato on the back as he stood there unmoving, silently shedding tears.

It was a good minute later that the door opened.

"Namikaze-san, I know it is late but- "was as much as Orochimaru got out before looking up and freezing in his tracks.

I sent him a feverish look and mouthed "HELP" at him, but the bastard just started grinning.

"On second thought, it can wait until tomorrow," that slimy snake said and made to close the door while I bombarded him with intense hatred.

In a world where looks could kill, the snake was playing a dangerous game.

Chopping my spring onions with maybe a tad too much unyouthful enthusiasm, I studiously ignored the aura of smugness to my right.

"If you want any of this ramen, you better stop aggravating me," I warned Orochi, pointing my knife at the undeterred nin.

"Whatever do you mean?" the Sannin objected with faux innocence.

Holding full eye contact, he wrapped his hands around his cup of tea, took a sip and set it back down again. For such an antisocial person, he was incredible at projecting certain emotions through slight changes in his behavior.

Before becoming friends with him, I'd never have thought that handling a cup of tea carefully could be so annoying.

"You were and are behaving incredibly unhelpful," I informed him with a huff.

"I dare disagree. Just imagine someone else stumbling on the two of you, what new rumors could have sprouted!"

His smirk grew to a grin as I rolled my eyes.

"Ha ha, pardon me for not having expected that kind of reaction from Minato. He's usually so composed. I guess he can be a bit goofy. But you know, shinobi and emotional vulnerability don't really go together," I aired my confusion as I went back to my meal preparation with a frown.

Orochi sighed.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes," he murmured.

I looked up, affronted. I was hearing that comment entirely too often as of late. On cue, I could hear Isobu snickering in the background from his little nest on the corner of the kitchen counter, far away from the splash zone.

"You shut up there, don't even start," I shot at the sassy Biju before turning back to Orochimaru.

"If you are so smart, explain it to me."

The Sannin sighed in exasperation.

"Think about it; you, the eldest member of the Clan Namikaze just married into, presented him with a wealth of Clan knowledge, which also happened to be the pinnacle of Fuuinjutsu, a craft Namikaze has spent years studying," Orchimaru patiently laid out.

"Oh."

"Furthermore, you welcomed him officially into your family, making this the first time in his life that Namikaze, an orphan, has the full trust, support and acceptance of a Clan," he finished.

"Oh," I repeated weakly.

"Like I said, an idiot," Orchimaru commented lightly and pushed his cup away.

"As fun as it was to watch you take out your embarrassment on the ingredients, I should really be on my way."

He stood up and I could barely let out a 'Bye' before he was gone.

With a groan I slumped over my chopping block, hunger momentarily forgotten.

"I feel like such an asshole, not thinking about how much this would mean to Minato," I complained to Isobu.

"Yeah. At least what you were thinking about was that you wanted to keep him alive?" the turtle tried to console me.

"Well, it's not great that Orchi had to explain it to me… Oh gods, Orochimaru!" I groaned even harder, wishing for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

"What?" Isobu asked confused.

"He is a clan less orphan too! And after years of working together, years of friendship, I invited the person into my Clan that he was passed over for as Hokage. It must have felt like slap to the face!"

"Oh wow. If you say it like that, that's really bad," Isobu said almost wonderingly, staring into the middle-distance, caught up in his thoughts.

"You fucked up," he summed up when he finally turned to look at me.

"Goddammit."

With about half my social circle upset at me I did the most sensible thing I could – I bailed.

I know, very mature. Sadly, self-awareness did not equal self-improvement.

Well, I didn't leave without a word. Kushina might have actually killed me on my return. She hugged me goodbye with a glare that was very much sending mixed messages.

And I left Orochi a care package in his lab. A scroll on sealing, his favorite tea blend and some muffins. For some reason he loved my blueberry muffins. Which was a bit of a pain because blueberries were hard to get – as they didn't grow in Fire country – and I loved eating them fresh when I could finally buy them at horrendous prices on the market.

With my guilt slightly assuaged and my travel pack on my back, I readied myself, one hand on my hip, the other pointing at the sky.

"Isobu my friend, it's time for a TRAINING MONTAGE!"

As soon as those word rung out, I disappeared in a puff of chakra smoke from my living room.

"This is so exciting! It has been decades since I got to teach a youngling the ways of a sage!" a giddy Ishigame told us.

I was slightly distracted though because of our audience. They tried to be subtle about it – keyword tried.

We were on the same beach as the first time, just Isobu, Ishigame and I. And hundreds of turtles in hiding. Some were in the water, some had dug themselves into the sand and some were looking out from the bushes on the forest side.

I attempted to ignore the feeling of hundreds of curious eyes on me, mostly unsuccessfully.

"Anyway, where best to start?" the giant turtle summon muttered to himself. "Ah, yes! We talked about what Senjutsu is exactly already and you showed more awareness to it than most of those starting out. So, let us get you straight on a more practical exercise: Go to the heart of Ryugu."

He finished grandly, his tone suggesting he had just told me something very important.

I was left staring at him.

Then he poofed away.

"Huh?" I eloquently questioned.

I stared some more, now at the empty air.

By the time my brain had rebooted, I looked around to see all our little watchers missing too. Like that wasn't creepy at all.

"What happen'd," Isobu slurred out, not even finishing the question before he broke into an audible yawn.

"You were sleeping? Why would you be sleeping at our first Senjutsu lesson?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Your first lesson, you mean," Isobu defended himself, though I could feel him shuffling guiltily on my head.

"And Ishigame's voice is great to sleep to. I thought he would talk for hours, like last time."

"Well, I did too, honestly. He just said, 'Go to the heart of Ryugu' and disappeared," I said, puzzled.

"Better get to diving then," Isobu stated matter-of-factly.

"I guess," I said.

I was a bit unconvinced. Surely, there was more to it.

The heart of the turtle realm; the assumption of it being underwater was a given. Now, your standard edition human – or even most shinobi up to chunin rank – would get into a bit of trouble here. You know, breathing under water for extended periods?

There were specific low-rank survival jutsu (for things like starting a fire, digging an inconspicuous latrine, etc.) though they weren't wildly spread. Many of them utilized elemental chakra. For example, there were both wind and water versions of a jutsu that allowed you to breath under water. And they were somewhat simple to learn – for those with on of these chakra natures.

It wasn't impossible for every shinobi to learn them, the cost-benefit ratio just didn't match up.

While I myself would have a hard time if I was forced to rely purely on Ninjutsu – well, I was not.

A temporary seal to let me keep breathing under water was easily slapped together. I wouldn't have to worry about the pressure that far down as long as I kept actively circling my chakra.

Isobu dispelled himself to ease our communication.

'This feels kind of weird now, after having had you on my head and not in it for so long,' I told the Biju.

"And you're not even the one switching bodies here," he reminded me.

I shrugged my shoulders as I waded into the ocean fully clothed. I had to agree to that.

After fully submerging, I gently maneuvered away from the island with short burst from the storage seals on the palms of my hands – the same ones I had used for rocketing through the sky. Deciding I was in a good enough spot, I made it easier for me by letting gravity do the work. Playing with the settings of my gravity seals and voilà! I was sinking like a stone.

"Clever!" complimented my turtle friend.

'Thank you, I'm always eager to find new ways to be lazy.'

"It´s not laziness," Isobu assured me. "It's being mindful of the energy you put out."

I grinned as I watched schools of fish pass us by.

'We fit so well together, Isobu. We really do.'

As we sank, it got darker and colder. The pressure sensation though was totally different from the one I knew before chakra. It was still there. However, the chakra flowing through every part of my body was pushing back, keeping everything in place. It also made me feel warm and fuzzy, oddly enough.

When all auditory and visual distractions disappeared, I could wholeheartedly concentrate on that peculiar sensation.

As I was getting a feel for my active chakra circulation, I started to perceive another kind of pressure.

Foreign chakra pushing against mine.

It was extremely faint, barely there at all. Yet, with repeated attempts to feel it, it got easier to identify it.

Mind racing, I realized that this must be the reason why Ishigame had sent me down here.

That pressure, it had to be nature chakra.

My ultimate objective in mind, I carefully pulled on that pressure.

I pulled slowly, almost timidly, until I had a little thread between me and the nature chakra. All the while I knew, I pull a tad too hard and the whole yarn will unravel on me, sweeping me away in a torrent of nature chakra and turning me to stone.

That thread established, I funneled chakra from the ocean to me, keeping a watchful eye on its ratio to the chakra in my body.

I continued for some time when –

- a whole new world opened up for me.

'Woah,' I thought, letting all those new impressions run through me.

I could almost see the chakra around me, my sensation of it became so vivid.

My best comparison would be – it was like being able to feel colors.

Caught up in my musings, I almost didn't notice the sudden ripples in the nature chakra. But then it was harder to ignore the sudden change in environment.

I blinked blearily when confronted with the bright light and strange sounds around me.

" -keshi! Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Isobu asked with a mighty amount of panic in his voice.

"Whut?" I asked sluggishly out loud.

To say I was disorientated was putting it mildly.

"You've been in this trance for weeks! I couldn't hear you, couldn't speak to you – I thought you were gone!"

By the end, Isobu was nearly sobbing which had me wide awake in a second.

"What do you mean weeks, what is going on? Was that, was that a trance?"

I looked around, trying to find an answer to my questions.

I was definitely at the bottom of the ocean, though in some sort of bubble. A well-lit island in a sea of darkness, constructed from shells and stone. Some other time I might have marveled at the odd structures around me, but not now.

"You made it youngling! Let me congratulate you on becoming the first Turtle Sage in centuries! I apologize if we caused your partner distress. I assumed he would accompany you into the Realm of Contemplation, I was mistaken," Ishigame spoke up from my side.

I whirled around, overwhelmed by what answer I wanted to demand first.

"What do you mean, how am I already a sage? What is the Realm of Contemplation? What is going on? Is this Ryugu?"

Every answer at once, apparently.

"Distress?! I'll give that bastard distress! Just make a clone for me and I'll show that hollow old shell -," Isobu ranted, his rage and worry burning bright in the back of my mind.

"It has not been long time for you because you were in the Realm of Contemplation. A technique, a sort of Space and Time manipulation, if you will, for aspiring sages. Only a Turtle Sage can exit it. To be fair, you have not mastered Senjutsu fully. It will be hard for you to reach this state anywhere but submerged in the ocean. Still, you did an admirable job. Of course, if I had lost hope, you could complete it, I would have gotten you out myself. Not every turtle down here in Ryugu is a sage, that would be beyond demanding."

"I think this I where the legends started. The legends about Ryugu and how the time here ticks differently. There is this one story of a fisherman rescuing a princess and when he leaves Ryugu 10.000 years have passed… Total nonsense of course, but a fine story," Ishigame rambled on in fond remembrance.

I felt an odd sort of dread fall over me. Disregarding any semblance of politeness, I cut Ishigame off.

"How much time passed?" I asked, half-hoping to never hear the answer.

"Hm, I guess a few months?"

"Ishigame, this is important. What day is it in the human realm?" I repeated as intensely as I could.

He looked at me, startled. Then he cocked his head in thought.

"Early October? The ninth, the tenth, thereabouts," he concluded.

At that Isobu paused in his vitriol. Anxiety swept over me.

Naruto could be born any day now. In fact, he could have already been born.

I was out of time.

AN: Hah, that little story that Ishigame tells at the end? That's where the name Ryugu comes from and where I set these time shinanigans up. FORESHADOWING

Next chapter is going to be tough on me. Emotionally