CHAPTER 3 – ONCE UPON A TIME

FLASHBACK (IN NARRATIVE TYPE):

He told her about being born over 15,000 years ago, in the period of Shinobi, how he became a ninja, being a Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi, named Kurama, how his friend Sasuke abandoned the leaf, taking a Chidori to the chest, training with Jiraiya for 2 and a half years, fighting Pein, meeting his father, mastering the nine-tails chakra, meeting his mom, fighting the Fourth Shinobi War, finally partnering with Kurama, almost dying by Madara's hands, getting half of the Sage of Six Paths power, defeating Kaguya, fighting Sasuke to a standstill, getting his friend back.

One year after the Fourth Shinobi War, he was made Jonin by Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage. A few months later, he, along with his friends, saved Hinata Hyuga from the clutches of Toneri Otsutsuki, after which he finally accepted Hinata's love. Another year later, Naruto and Hinata married each other, filling the entire village with so much joy.

Kate decided she needed a break. It all sounded so silly, and unbelievable, but he looked so serious that she decided to believe him for now, despite her reservations. She drank some water, and settled down to hear the rest of the story.

He told her about the next few years, where he had finally achieved his lifelong goal of becoming Hokage, named the Seventh Hokage. Under his command, the village prospered, maintaining good relationships with the other villages.

Then he found the news that made him so heartbroken, he didn't know what to do. He started to discover that while his friends, his wife and others were aging, he was still the same. He looked like he had stopped aging at 23 years of age. He secretly took tests a lot, to see what happened, and concluded that the Six Paths Chakra that he had, along with the Chakra from the tailed beasts, made him stop aging. It meant that all his friends will die, while he continues living. Moreover, he had to watch his beloved Hinata die as well. So, he had decided to live normally under a transformation till Hinata passes away, after which he would fake his death and travel the world. He thought about going to the other side of the world to explore the hidden lands there. He didn't tell anyone of this plan, and as he didn't have any kids, there was no one really left behind.

And so, at the age of 65, a still 25 year looking Naruto, left a Wood clone, yes, you heard right, a wood clone. After losing his arm in his fight with Sasuke, Tsunade had crafted a prosthetic arm engineered from Hashirama's cells. Considering the fact that the First Hokage was an earlier reincarnate of Ashura, the cells gelled perfectly with Naruto, allowing him access to the fabled Wood Release. He spent a whole year mastering it. With his mastery over Sage Mode, it became so much easier to use Wood Style.

So, leaving his wood clone at the leaf, he headed out to travel the world. He travelled all over the world for as long as 100 years. In that time, he saw the world change; technology was taking a hold of a lot of life aspects. He decided to stay alone, so that he wouldn't experience more loss, but after all this time, he realized that he was a social creature. Due to all the loneliness of his childhood, he was simply unable to live a lonely life now. He needed people around him. So, after all this time, he decided to enter civilization again and live a normal life. He applied a seal on himself to make himself look different, and sealed away his Chakra. He could unseal it if he wanted to, but decided that he wanted to live a normal life. He found a job as a ramen chef, and started living a civilian life. He changed his name, and lifestyle. He led this life, till it was time for him to die again.

So began a cycle of life and death, but without actually dying. He watched as people changed, civilizations changed, people lost their ability to use Chakra, but the fighting styles remained, passed down through generations. Technology grew to great heights, new languages were created, which he obviously learned. But, there were negatives. Kings started taking over countries, ruling them. Some were good, leading their country to prosperity, while some were only looking to plunder the Kingdom, and leave once they sucked them dry. But, even with all this happening, Naruto did not so much as lift a finger to help. Not because he didn't care, but because he was simply tired of war. He had watched so many people die, throughout his long lifetime, and he simply grew unfeeling to all the death around him. He did help people whenever he could, but he simply stayed away from all the fighting.

He also never found love. He realized losing Hinata alone was painful; he couldn't go through such a thing again. So, he stayed away from love. He did have many flings though, mostly for the companionship and the sex. He was still a red-blooded male in his prime. His libido was still strong even through all these years. But he never had a relationship that lasted more than a week. There was one woman who he appeared to be interested in, but he didn't act on it, other than 3 days of continuous sex. She left looking very much satisfied, and asked him if he would like to work for her. When asked who she was, and where she worked, she said her name was Martha Dandridge, and she was the owner of a Tobacco estate. She said that her husband had died 6 months ago, and she received the estate as inheritance, which she wanted to develop, but had no time, since she had to take care of her family. She wanted him to run it in her place. When he asked her how she trusted him so easily, she replied, "Well, you do not look like the kind of person to cheat someone. Another thing, is, you were the first person I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know, who actually asked about my life"

As tempting as the offer was, he declined it, because he did not want to lay down roots. After saying their goodbyes, they went their separate ways. A few years later, Naruto learned that Martha was now married to a man named George Washington. He was later surprised to find out that he was the President of the United States. He sent her a letter, stating how happy he was for her.

Time flew by. He decided to travel east, towards the European continent, visiting many cities like Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Zurich. He even went to Ireland, where he found the way of life was unique. He loved it there, and vowed to visit as much as he could. He even had an evening with a woman named Maureen Campbell. She was in her late twenties, a brunette with silky smooth wavy chestnut hair, a very athletic yet slender figure, and a devastating smile. She was a nurse at the local hospital, who helped people whenever she could. He was drawn to her outgoing personality, and charismatic aura. He met her, when he took a young girl, who was running a fever, to get her treated. He watched as she very kindly and softly, held the girl with care as she treated her. When she asked him if he was her father, he simply smiled and told her that he found her on the street, alone and soaked to the bone. She simply looked at him for a few seconds, and then continued to treat the girl. After doing everything she could, she told him that the girl needed rest, and lots of fluids to help her heal. He thanked her, and picked up the little girl. He needed to find her parents. Before he could leave, the nurse introduced herself, and asked him for his name. He gave her the name he was currently operating under, Gerald Murphy. She smiled at him, and requested that he meet her at the hospital at 7pm that evening. He just looked at her with a puzzled expression, but acquiesced. He left the hospital in search of the girl's parents.

He finally found them after 3 hours. They were frantically searching for their child, with the mother in tears and a frantic mess. The father was shouting her name loudly, looking all over the place. Naruto walked over to the couple and asked them if she was their daughter. The look on their faces after they saw her with him, was filled with such joy and relief, they ran over to him. The father reached first and took her from him, and the mother gathered close, to look at her daughter's sleeping face. He turned and started walking away. He may have lost all his innocence and a lot of his heart and joy, but he still had pangs of regret for leaving his life behind. As he was walking away, the mother called out to him. Just as he turned around, she came barreling into him, hugging him tightly, and thanking him profusely. Before he could say anything she pulled away, and left with her family. He looked in their direction for a few seconds, and then turned and walked away. It was darkening, so he decided to go to the hospital to meet Maureen. When he reached, she was already out, waiting for him. When she saw him, she smiled brightly, the sight being so beautiful, that he almost stumbled. But he held strong and walked towards her. She suggested they go for a walk together. As they went along, they talked about their life, their family, their goals in life and other things. He learnt that she was an only child, her father passed away when she was 13. She was obviously devastated, but she learned to persevere and completed her education, to become a nurse. Her mother, who was now in her early forties, was bedridden, which was the reason she pursued her current path in life. She, like many girls, wanted to find the man they would spend the rest of their lives with, but her life did not permit such happiness. For the first time, she found someone who she could picture herself with. So she wanted to get to know him. But she had no reason to believe that he would want that too.

He simply listened to her story. She had a hard life, yet she seemed at peace. It made him so happy to know people like her existed in this universe. He then gave her a fabricated story about his life as Gerald Murphy. She seemed interested to know about him. After a while, they came to a stop, near her home. She just hugged him, kissed his cheek, and said, "You know where I live. If you think life with me would make you happy, then you can come to me any time and we can start a life together. It's all up to you Gerald" She smiled serenely and went inside. He stood there like a statue for about 10 minutes, and then walked away.

He roamed the city for another week. He thought a lot about Maureen's offer. His mind was in a state of war. While one part wanted so badly to start a family and live a life with kids and everything. But the other part wanted to avoid the heartbreak of losing the family, as time passes. Three days later, with no answers, he decided to visit Maureen, to get much needed clarity. But what he saw cemented the idea that trying to start a family would only end in his devastation. Her house was vacant. After asking around, he found out that her mother died 8 days ago. Not even 2 days after her death, Maureen's home was invaded by a bunch of dacoits, who stole anything of value, which, ultimately, was not much, and then killed her, in order to cover their identities. He felt his heart break into pieces, and then apathy settled in. He decided not to let anyone into his heart ever again. But, there was also a simmering rage, which just won't go. He wanted to kill those fuckers who killed her. It took 3 days for him to track them down. He didn't need Chakra to find them, and he definitely did not need it to kill them. He found them about to enter another home, so he quickly killed the closest one by sneaking behind him, putting his right arm around his neck in a chokehold, and snapped his neck. He, then, moved so fast, that the remaining men did not even see him move, and before they knew it, their throat had been slit by the knife he took from their dead partner. This was the first time he had killed in nearly 14,000 years. He simply felt nothing. He took the knife with him, and simply left.

After the events in Ireland, he lost the ability to enjoy anything he did. He decided to write books, as an outlet for his emotions. He wrote many books under many books, under numerous pen names. His books were known for their dark concepts, like murder, mystery, dark comedy, and other non-happy genres. He decided to go back to the US, to live out the rest of his life. For the first time, he decided to settle in one place. He moved to New York, in the early 1900's.

It was in 1917, when a miracle happened. He was at home, writing an outline for his next book, when someone knocked on his door. He looked at the door with a confused expression, as he knew no one would knock, as no one knew where he lived. As he slowly walked towards the door, he palmed a kitchen knife, and slowly opened the door. He found a woman with auburn hair, in her early forties, with blue eyes, looking at him, searching his face. She then dropped her head, and walked away. He was so shocked, so before he could assess what happened, he found himself calling her, "Hey miss. Is everything alright?"

She stopped and looked at him, and asked him for his name, which he gave. She just stared, and asked him, if he knew a man named Naruto Uzumaki. His eyes bulged, and he simply took a step back in surprise. This reaction shocked the lady, who ran back to him, grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him frantically, with tears in her eyes, asking him if he knew anyone by that name. Her reaction surprised him, as he asked her who she was, and why she was asking. Her answer was something he would never have expected in a million years.

"My name is Karen Holland in this life, but I was born Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto is my son"

He just looked at her in absolute shock. His mind was racing a mile a minute, but his body was stuck in its place. He could not move no matter what he tried. Finally, when he found he could move again, he did the same thing he did when he met her in his mindscape. He rushed her and hugged her with all his might.

"MOM!"

Kushina was surprised, but her eyes filled with happy tears as she hugged her son back. They stood there for a while, after which he pulled her inside, and locked the door.

He looked at her, and smiled widely. It had been a long time since he smiled so much. He asked her, "How are you here? What happened?"

She replied very honestly, "No clue. After we met in your mind, I vanished. I thought my time was done. But suddenly I was once again alive. An old man, who called himself Hagoromo, told me that I was given my life back, and that I should find you. When I asked why he did that, he said it was his gift to you for stopping the Infinite Tsukuyomi, or whatever. He also told me that because he had used his Chakra to revive me, I had a part of his Chakra. That made me immortal. I didn't believe him at first, just overjoyed that I could be with you again. I first went to the Leaf under a transformation, hoping to find out about your life. Imagine my surprise when I found your face on the Hokage Mountain. I was so happy for you. You had achieved your goal, and became the second Hokage in our family. I was even prouder of you than I was of Minato, because you had faced so many difficulties in life, none of which Minato would have been able to face when he was that young.

When I asked about you, people looked at me funny, and asked me if I had been living under a rock for all these years. When I asked them to explain, they told me that it had been 75 years since you had died. I was devastated and didn't know what to do. I wanted to die. When I tried to kill myself, I found I couldn't. Then I remembered what the old man told me, about me being immortal. That's when I realized that it was true. I was lost. I couldn't be with you, and I couldn't die. It was like hell on Earth. I lived like that for another 30 years. One day, when I was passing a town, I sensed a Chakra that was so familiar; I knew it had to be you. I found the person who had that Chakra signature, but he looked different. I followed you around for days, and you did not look anything like my Naruto. But your eyes were so much like his, I was so confused. I decided to follow you around. But the next day you were gone. I was so upset. When I enquired about you, everything they said only proved that you were my Naruto. Thus began my search for you. I tried so hard to find you all these years, but there was no information about you. And since you started using fake names, it became all the more difficult. Finally, I found you today"

The both of them just sat together, and made small talk. He told her about all his adventures and his life all these years. She just sat and listened. She felt happy sometimes, and sad sometimes. But the most disheartening part was finding about the loss of Maureen. She decided she would stay with him from now on. They would never separate from each other and she would make sure he never feels lonely ever again. Thus, they began living together.

They continued living their life. After so many years in solitude, Kushina decided that they would start living socially, and interact with people outside. While Naruto still didn't like the idea, he also thought it would be a good idea.

In the year 1962, Kushina changed her identity to Martha Rodgers, and started a new life in New York. She started acting in plays, and later landed roles in movies and television shows. In 1976, Naruto changed his identity to Richard Rodgers, and transformed into a 7 year old boy, when he was outside. They decided to come up with a cover story that Richard was the product of a one night stand with a man, who left the next day and never showed up again. That story was somewhat true, as Martha did have a night with a man, but she did not end up pregnant. It was just an excuse to introduce Naruto to the world as her son. Thus began their life as Martha and Rick Rodgers. In 1990, Rick published his first novel under his new name, Richard Castle. 'In A Hail of Bullets' was a big hit, and a New York Best Seller. His then girlfriend, Kyra Blaine, feeling so happy for him, decided to throw a party for him. In that party, he met a woman named Meredith Lee, an actor who worked in plays mostly, but was rather unsuccessful. She was quite beautiful though, with red hair that reminded him a lot of his mother. But, character wise, she was nothing like her. She tried to flirt with him, but he firmly denied her. Even though, he didn't love Kyra, he liked her a lot, and he was not the type of person to two-time a girl.

A year later, however, just before he could publish his next book, Kyra decided that she needed to think about where their relationship is going. So she planned a trip to England to gather her thoughts. At least, that's what she told her. But, as it turned out, her mother, Sheila, had created substantial doubt in Kyra's mind about their relationship, and sent her to England to further her career, without telling him. So, lying to him, she left him at Times square, watching her as she walked away from him. But, he read through her lies perfectly. He was attuned to lies, and could sniff a fib out, from a mile away. So, even though it pained him, he let her go. This, again, only proved to him, that love is never permanent.

A month after the break-up, he met Meredith again. She flirted again. This time he did not reject her. In fact, he flirted right back with her. One thing led to another and before he knew it, they were in bed together. But he didn't regret it.

Six weeks after that night, he got a call from Meredith again, but this time, he had a bomb dropped on him. She was pregnant. He was so shocked that he dropped the phone from his hand. When Martha found out, she was critical of him, but she lent her support. When she asked him what he was going to do, he said warily, "The right thing, Mom"

This, of course, meant he was going to ask her to marry him. Meredith did not want to settle down, but Rick convinced her to accept. They were happy for a while. She gave birth to beautiful baby girl, with hair as red as her Mom, and Grandmother, and eyes as blue as his. He was worried that she would inherit access to Chakra, but decided he would cross that bridge later. Meredith was content with her life as a mother and wife. He was still writing books. She kept trying to win roles, but was not successful. After so many years, he finally had a family again. He started to believe in love again.

But everything fell apart soon enough. After Alexis reached the age of 3, Meredith started becoming distant. She would stay away for days, sometimes weeks. Even when she stayed home, she would come home very late. She stopped spending any time with Alexis, leading Rick to pick up her slack, which he did whole heartedly. Alexis was his life, his first born child. He would do absolutely anything for her. And he meant it. He would even kill for her.

His daughter would ask for her mom, but he could not give her any answers. He simply told her that her mom was working, and see her soon. Slowly, as more time passed, Alexis also stopped asking. She was content with just her dad, whom she absolutely adored.

Exactly, a week after Alexis' birthday, Rick decided enough was enough. He let her do as she pleased, because he trusted that she would eventually see how her actions were hurting the family, but it had gone on too long. He called Meredith, and asked her to meet him at a café not far from home. During this meeting, he asked her about everything, and told her whatever he was thinking about. He thought she would apologize and tell him what was going on. Boy was he wrong. She straight out accused him of not trusting her, and asked him if he suspected her of cheating. When he denied her claims, she said that she could not be with him now that she knew he didn't trust her. She asked him for a divorce. While Rick was shocked, the whole thing smelled fishy to him. It was like she had already decided on the divorce, and was simply looking for a reason to come out with it. If it was just an issue of trust, they could have worked it out. But she had already made up her mind. He bluntly told her to stop lying and to tell him the real reason for asking for a divorce. Meredith was shocked at being ousted, but she told him that a director had offered her a role in his TV show, in LA. The only condition being she must live with him, and be in a relationship with him. She had accepted the role, and the terms. So she decided to divorce him with any reason she could find.

Rick was feeling a lot of emotions then. He was feeling angry, sad, and heartbroken, but most of all, he felt betrayed by her. A role in a TV show was more important to her than her family, than Alexis. He finally got to see the real Meredith. He felt she didn't even deserve to be Alexis' mother. But there was nothing he could do about it. So, he accepted, under the condition that he would get full custody of Alexis. When he saw her hesitate, he told her that she could visit. He wasn't that heartless. She finally accepted, and he contacted his lawyer, setting up a meeting to finalize the paperwork.

Reeling from the divorce, Rick gave into his publishing company's advice that he make himself look like a playboy, which would boost sales. Martha did not approve, but there was nothing he could do to stop her son from going down that path. He was in a downward spiral, and would not listen to her. She was so mad at Meredith that she wanted to kill her. While he had sealed his chakra away, she had not. She wanted to impale her with her Adamantine Chains. But that would be ill advised at the moment. So she let her go, and focused all her affections on her son and granddaughter. She was such an adorable girl, so much like her father, well, like her father as he was now. But sometimes, she would see traces of the prankster in her. It was so cute.

The chain of events that followed, led to the moment where Kate Beckett enter his life, and turned it on its head.

FLASHBACK END