A/N: Here we go.
Rebound Covid is not fun, but hey, I did hint at this story in "Surpass Your Limits"
This one? Probably the most insane thing I've ever written in my life, and a lot more humorous.
That said, I've yet to see anyone try to jump this particular shark, as it were, and the request giver was mighty persuasive...
As my fifteen year anniversary on this site draws near, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. The recent earthquake in Turkey/Syria serves as a terrible example. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
No questions this time. I think I've kept you waiting long enough.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes, or memes. Not a wit or a one!
They're tributes to legends far greater than I. And speaking of references, if it wasn't already obvious...
I was clearly listening to "Divine Bloodlines" by Trevor Morris when writing this.
One last thing, since Gojo's mother was never named, I had to work something out.
Sakuna Gojo. Not to be confused with Sukuna. Now that we've gotten that out the way...
...get ready.
"We all descend from divinity at some point, if you go back far enough.
Its all in our bloodlines you see. Isn't that right, Minoru?
I already told you....I don't like that name, Satoru."
~?
Running in Blind
You know, I always wanted a brother.
Big brother, little brother, the designation doesn't matter.
A sibling would've been nice, ya know? When I was growing up, I mean.
Younger, older, doesn't matter. Frankly I would've settled for a twin. Just...having someone there, someone to watch your back, someone who would stand by your side, whatever comes your way. Someone who would be your pal, your protector, the one person who would never ever turn against you, no matter. I know what you're thinking: Isn't that a bit naive, Naruto? What's the point in dwelling on that now, here at the end? Its not like that would've changed anything.
For me? It might have.
I chose to take the ten-tails into myself and die in the fourth shinobi rather than be sealed away forever by my friends. It was a simple choice at the time. With Sasuke dead, no one else could contain Kaguya. She'd found a way around seals before. Dying with her was the only surefire way to scatter her consciousness across the cosmos.
The mind goes funny places when everything ends. It happens to all of us, I suppose.
That ain't the problem. Y'see, the problem is...
...somewhere, someway, somehow...
...something heard me...
...and I heard them.
(.0.0.0.)
Poor wayward soul, lost amidst time and space.
Rejoice. For this is not thine end.
I grant thee rebirth.
Divinity.
Life.
(.0.0.0.)
"He isn't breathing!"
"His heartbeat's flat-lining!"
"Someone get the nurse, damnit!"
"Noisy is what you are! Shaddap and lemme sleep!"
...was what he would've liked to say, but his mouth would not form the words. All that emerged was a thin, reedy cry.
Now wait just a second.
His mind fizzled spectacularly, only reluctantly reasserting itself as he took in his surroundings. He was in a white room. The steady bleat of medical equipment filled his ears as someone held him close. Yet for some reason he felt out of sorts. No, it wasn't just that. They were people crowding over him and they all seemed...larger. Far taller than they should be...were they bigger? Or was he...
.
..
...what in the actual hell.
"Rejoice, fragment of the gods."a woman's soft, musical voice filled his ears. "I have heard your heartfelt plea. Your wish is granted."
'Wish?!' his mind flailed in a blind panic. 'What wish?! I don't recall making a wish!'
"Ah, but you did. This is your rebirth, Uzumaki Naruto."
'Waitaminute! Does this mean I'm...!
The Voice didn't answer.
'Don't panic! Just have a look and...darn.' he squinted down at himself furiously, to no avail.
Much to his chagrin, he was an infant. His mind didn't want to accept it, but there it was. All bundled up to boot.
Movement in his peripherals drew his eye. There was another baby beside him, silent as the grave, wrapped in swaddling clothing much like his own. His hair was a wild white mess, his face pale and calm. As he looked on the little lad opened his eyes and looked right his way. Straight at him. He had the strangest feeling the runt saw him. Actually saw him! But that was impossible, right? He was just a baby, right? No, no nevermind that.
A strange fluttery feeling flickered in his chest.
'Brother.
'I have a brother.'
'No, wait! I have a twin! We were probably born only a minute apart!'
He was still processing that wonderfully mysterious feeling when slim arms swept him up and drew him elsewhere. In an instant he found himself gazing upon a weary woman with a lean face, from which deep sapphire blue eyes shone, framed by shoulder length white hair. She smiled at him-a smile full of tender genuine love!- so much so that he briefly found himself taken aback.
'Oh.' he blinked, realizing who he was looking at. 'This is my mother. Guess I have another one of those now, too.'
"Minoru," she crooned softly. "My dear Minoru. Grow up strong, won't you? Look after your big brother...
He could sense her strength fading, but that was normal after giving birth, right? She was fine, right?
"Her vitals are dropping! She's lost too much blood! Someone get the nurse!"
His eyes widened. 'Oi, oi, oi! Waitaminute! Is she dying?!"
"She is." that oh-so-familiar Voice replied. "It was always her purpose to die in the beginning of Gojo Satoru's story. Do you want to save her?"
Go-who? No, ignore that! He was having a mother this time around, damnit!'
"Of course I want to save her!"
"Very well." For some reason, the Voice sounded almost...pleased. "So shall it be."
With every fiber of willpower he possessed, he forced himself to squirm loose from the cloth binding him. Freeing his right hand, he touched her cheek with a pink, pudgy little hand. Chakra surged out of him in a heady rush, leaving him feeling dizzy, but more importantly color rushed back into her face.
"Sakuna!"
"She's stable?!"
"But how? Her vitals were-
"Until we meet again. I leave you with one final blessing...
All their chattering faded away into so much gibberish as he heard those words...and saw something. In that instant, he glimpsed his reflection in his mother's eyes and what he saw there both trilled and terrified him in equal measure. He was a small pink, squalling baby with white hair, but that wasn't what caught his eye, not really. Because you see, they were gone.
Gone, gone, gone.
His beautiful blue eyes were gone, replaced by rippling vivacious violent violet swirls. The eyes of a goddess-a formidable entity he'd sacrificed his life to destroy. He knew these eyes. He'd seen them in the faces of friend and foe alike and never thought to see them ever again.
Rinnegan.
He heard people exclaiming over him again:
"His eyes!"
"What are those?"
"They're not the Six Eyes!"
"I can see that, fool! What are they?"
"Some kind of occular jujutsu? Is that possible...?"
Jujutsu? What in blaze was-no, nevermind that strange word. He'd puzzle over it later. For now...the corner of his mouth twitched into a scowl.
Rinnegan?! Really?! You're kidding me, right? Of all the eyes to be reborn with, you give me these?! This is cheating! A pause followed and he had the distinct feeling something was watching him. You're seriously having me Running in Blind with these?! I don't even know to use these eyes! Gimme back my normal ones!
.
..
...nothing happened.
Well, alright then. That tore it.
He simply couldn't help himself any longer.
Naruto Uzumaki, now reborn as Minoru Gojo, heaved a sigh.
(...Two Years Later...)
"Say mama, Minoru."
Naruto resisted the urge sigh again; if only just.
A pale hand ran through his white hair, tickling him ever so gently.
To think he would miss the simple things; he'd never experienced such humiliation before in his first life...
.
..
...
Or maybe he had, but at least didn't remember it, ya know?
At two years old, he was pleased to finally have some semblance of mobility back, but still, it wasn't enough. It didn't matter if he cou At
That said, this world sucked.
Cursed Spirits? Check. Constant threats against his life? Check. Scheming old fogies who didn't know when to let him and his brother be? Check! Honestly, it was annoying, no, it was beyond annoying! Not even three and already he'd foiled not one, but two kidnapping attempts. Idiots tried to touch him and he yanked out their souls. Ha! Served 'em right. Nobody was messing with his family this time around.
He had great power, incredible power, but as he was now, he could only use it in short bursts before exhausting himself. He was only two after all.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like Kaguya's consciousness had followed him over here. That, at least, was a blessing.
But perhaps most exasperating to deal with...
Sakuna Gojo smiled down at him.
"Ma~ma~!" she crooned.
He sighed. 'Fiiiine...
"M-Mama...
Sakuna Gojo's face lit up with motherly delight. "Ah~! My darling boy!"
Taking pity on her, he let the poor woman sweep him up into her arms and coddle him for awhile. It was...not an unpleasant feeling. Was this what he would've had with Mom -Kushina!- if things worked out in his first life? Perhaps. He wasn't sure he had a Father this time around. He'd never seen the man, or maybe Mother kept them from seeing him, or perhaps...was the man already dead? If so, that was unfortunate, but-
"My turn~!"
Ack!
His thoughts dissolved into gibberish as Satoru jumped in Sakuna's lap and drove the two of them backwards. Their mother -bless her simple soul- let herself be bowled over and the three of them went down in a laughing merry mess.
Gojo Satoru was a surprisingly clingy child, but he could already see hints of the wild troublemaker he'd become in the future.
Fine by him! The world could use a little more chaos. Let their be pranks and mischief aplenty!
Let chaos take the world~!
Other members of the clan came to see them time to time, and he endeavored to remember most of their names. The higher ups were curious about his eyes. Very curious. His little miracle with Gojo Sakuna had not gone unnoticed. They wanted to see if it could be replicated. Phooey on them. If they knew he might be able to bring back the dead, they'd never let him be.
So he kept that bit a secret, content to pass off the Rinnegan as an inferior version of the Six Eyes.
He was content simply to enjoy these lazy, peaceful days...
...until, one day, his mother began to cry.
(.0.0.0.)
Sakuna Gojo was a frail woman.
She'd always been thus, even as a girl.
Always, always, always the failure, ever the weakling.
It was her fate perhaps; that was the price she paid for having two powerful sons. Minoru and Satoru were the apple of her eye, her twins meant everything to her. They were the one good thing she'd brought into this world after being forced into that gods-awful marriage. Her boys were good and pure, and she knew they would be strong someday -The Absolute Strongest!- but she saw they way the rest of the Clan looked at her children. Despite their status as the Honored Ones, the Elders of the Gojo clan viewed them as little more than weapons, tools meant only for fighting and raising their status to glory.
The Higher Ups were worse. So much worse. Horribly.
With the birth of her sons, the balance of the Jujutsu World had irrevocably shifted toward the sorcerers, yet stronger and stronger curses were appearing every day. There was already talk of training them. It frightened her. Satoru and Minoru were just boys! Barely two years old at that!
No one would look out for them besides her. Should she take them and run away? Would she even be able to?
Sakuna Gojo knew the answer. Of course not. She'd never make it past the door.
She wasn't strong enough.
She could see spirits, yes, and while she did have a Cursed Technique, hers wasn't best suited to battle. Simply put, she could read and manipulate the "aura" of others. With but a glance at one's cursed energy she could see if they were good or evil, kind or a killer, a liar, or a louse. The inverse or rather "lapse" of her cursed technique was little better; she could use it to erase a few minutes worth of memories. Everyone told her such a talent was ill-suited to combat and not befitting of the Gojo clan. She was worthless, useless, hopeless. She should be dead really; her destiny had been to deliver two strong children, then die during childbirth, she was sure of it.
Yet she hadn't. Why?
Why, why, why?
Just thinking of it made her soul hurt.
Her children depended on her, they needed her, but she couldn't even protect them from the horrors to come.
'Why am I alive?' she gripped her face with both hands, unable to choke down a sob. 'Why am I even here? If I can't keep them safe from the Elders, then I...!'
A small hand patted hers. "Mama."
Her head snapped up find little Minoru looking at her. Right at her. His whiskered cheeks dimpled in a smile and it was not the smile of a babe, but something...more. She looked at him and for a moment his cursed energy almost seemed to flicker in her mind's eye, flowing from blue to take on an ethereal shade of white. Satoru hadn't even noticed. He was too busy playing with his blocks. But her darling Minoru...
"No cry." he said haltingly.
"Hweh?" she squeaked out, startled.
"No cry." He gave her a firm hug as only a child could. "I fix."
He left her with that puzzling statement and toddled over to tackle Gojo.
Sakuna was soon distracted by their antics and thought no more of his strange behavior...but in hindsight, she should have.
(.0.0.0.)
In the dead of night, a third eye opened in Naruto's forehead.
"Nobody makes my mama cry."
He swung the door open.
Slowly, carefully...
...he went out.
(.0.0.0.)
The very next day, one of the esteemed elders of the Gojo Clan mysteriously passed away in his sleep.
It was a sudden death, abrupt for a man who'd been hale and healthy only a fortnight before.
None knew why. None thought to suspect it was anything more than natural causes.
None save Sakuna Gojo knew there was even a hint of wrongdoing.
Because you see her son's aura was stained red.
A/N: Aaand scene.
Don't mess with Naruto's mama. He'll kill you.
Does our boy have Kaguya's powers? Or did she come along for the write?
Would you like a timeskip? Or would you prefer these warm, happy days a while yet?
"Sakuna" Gojo is a reference to Sakuna Memoir from a certain show. She fit perfectly as their mother.
Well? Did you like this story? Yes? No? Maybe? By all means, speak up! Make yourselves heard!
Your voice matters~! Silence hurts worse than any flame.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? It will remain, but it won't be continued! I'm working two jobs to keep the lights on, as such I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas....Review, Wouldst Thou Kindly?
And have some previews. Some are quite off, but still...
Mind you, most of these previews are the same.
Wouldn't do to spoil what's coming up.
Vote for what you want to see!
And as ever:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS LAY AHEAD!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews)
They were presented before the Elders and told what their purpose would be.
"No.
"What he said! Why would we right for your amusement?"
Satoru was strong.
It was a simple fact of life. He loved having a little brother, hell, he didn't think he could live without one. Together they were the scourge of the Gojo clan, wreaking havoc wherever they went. Ocular jujutsu were incredibly rare as a rule; he hadn't heard of any besides his own Six Eyes. Yet his brother...well, Minoru had abilities that rivaled his own. Not only could he push and pull things at will, but he'd displayed the uncanny ability to absorb cursed energy, and a host of other abilities he hadn't yet revealed. Like him, he couldn't exactly turn his eyes off, but maybe that was for the best. Because you see, he understood It was nice to have someone who understood him. Together. Bros before hoes and all that, whatever the saying meant. Meh, he'd read it in a book somewhere. That didn't bother Satoru.
What bothered him was that his beloved little brother refused to play!
He'd fix that, oh yes he would!
Mark his words!
Oh, gods, there's two of them. Can I retire now?"
Nanami-saaan~!"
...please do not refer to me so fondly."
Did you...did you just rip out that guy's soul?"
Minoru blinked. "...and what if I did?"
Satoru laughed.
Bros before hoes.
Which was why he found himself somewhat baffled when Minoru brought back a girl one day.
Her name was Shoko Ieri, and she would change everything.
Everything.
...Naoya. Stop talking. Before I kill you."
Wanna play?
Geto Suguru blinked.
The baffled boy blinked hard. "Where in blazes did you come from?"
"Bzzzt! Wrong answer!"
"Ow! For crying out loud, Satoru!
What, its just a little paint; its nothing compared to what you did-
Satoru.
Gojo grinned. "Yessss?"
Naruto raised his head and wiped paint from his Rinnegan eyes. "RUN."
Didn't need to tell him twice!
Gojo Satoru bolted.
EDIT: And there we have it!
Hope this put a smile on your face, and Happy New Year!