Author Note(June 2024): Some people have uploaded my story on YouTube and Wattapad without my permission. So. if you see anyone uploading any of my stories, then let me know. Also, it is futile to ask me for permission because I will not give anyway.
It Began With A Nightmare Ended With A Beautiful Dream
Prologue
Swirling in a vortex of confusion, my stomach churns with unease. Could this strange sensation be the aftermath of traversing through time? It's a thought that lingers, uncertain.
Where have I found myself?
Oh, clarity slowly emerges...
I've returned... to a time before.
The war's twilight approached, and our side was faltering.
Sakura lay wounded, a chakra rod cruelly impaled through her chest.
Gai, having unleashed the full fury of the Eight Gates, had fallen. Lee stood on the precipice of a similar fate.
Obito... in a final act of redemption, he forfeited his life to protect Kakashi.
Madara had killed Sasuke with… never mind; the Infinite Tsukuyomi's cancellation was now a forsaken hope.
Da... Minato's words echoed, the seal he bestowed was meant to cast me into the past.
But what era?
What does it depend on?
How far has it taken me?
"As long as the seal is fed by chakra," Minato had uttered. "It will keep sending you back."
It was imbued with Kakashi's life force, who, inevitably, succumbed to the ravages of war.
I have a mission.
No… I have a lot of missions.
Stop Obito from going insane.
Talk some sense into Madara otherwise… kill him.
Save Minato and Kushina.
Save Yahiko.
Who am I, wandering through the echoes of history?
I opened my eyes and looked around.
It was a typical room with a small study table, one cupboard, a small dining table with a wooden chair and a dressing table. Overall, a typical room.
The colour theme of the room was dark violet. Huh. I wonder who lives here.
I stood up and let myself feel my body.
My centre of mass felt odd, as if I am not used to it. My height was significantly less than…
I peaked at the mirror with the dressing table.
I blinked away the remnants of sleep, my vision slowly focusing on the figure reflected in the mirror before me. It was a startling sight, not because of the unexpectedness of it, but because of the familiarity that tugged at the edges of my memory. The girl staring back at me had jet-black hair, cut in a bob that framed her face, and bright, intelligent eyes that seemed to sparkle with a mix of mischief and kindness. Her cheeks were round and youthful, and there was a gentle smile playing on her lips, the kind that seemed to light up her entire face.
I raised a hand to touch the reflection, half-expecting it to ripple like water, but it was solid and real. The girl in the mirror mimicked my movements, and I felt a strange connection to her. She was Rin Nohara, a name that resonated within me, stirring emotions and memories that were not my own. I was…
I was someone else, although I am not sure who, but at this moment, I was…
I was Rin.
It was then I heard a knock on the door.
"Rin-chan!" A child-like voice was heard, Almost like Konohamaru. "You are late for the special genin test sensei talked about yesterday!"
Huh.
Well…
Maybe I get to use a Thousand Years of Death on the Yellow Flash? Sounds tempting.
"Just a moment!" I called out.
Chapter • One • Team Minato
"Rin-chan!" Obito whispered. "What test do you think it will be?"
Of course, I am Rin Nohara. Of all people my soul could enter…
The reason for everything that happened was Rin.
She was weak. Honestly. Not that I had any bad blood with her. Actually, who am I?
Anyways, back to Rin, she got kidnapped not once, but twice.
"It should be a—" I stopped, seeing Minato appear in a shunshin.
"Good morning, team!" He cheerfully said. "I hope you are ready for the day."
"You bet, sensei!" Obito declared.
Kakashi remained stoic. Typical preteen Kakashi.
"Believe it!" I replied with a grin.
Wait. Where did that come from?
"All right…" Minato proceeded to explain the test. "You have two hours." He pulled an alarm clock from his hip pouch. "This alarm is set for noon. You have to get these two bells from me."
Huh.
Bell test.
Of course.
No wonder where Kakashi had the idea from.
And it turns out Minato had this idea from Jiraya who had it from Hiruzen who learned it from Tobirama.
Huh. What a bunch of copycats.
Maybe I would follow the suit?
Well, that's…
"Two bells?" Kakashi frowned. "What's the catch?"
"The ones who get the bell can get anything they want to eat." Minato explained. But the one who doesn't get a bell gets no lunch."
Our stomachs simultaneously groaned.
Oh.
How can I forget that stupid part?
"And… well… one of you is going back to the academy. And guess who?"
"The one who does not get a bell, obviously." Kakashi pointed out.
Obito looked terrified.
Kakashi looked confident.
Well, I could easily get one since Minato will underestimate me. A few clones with Orioke-no-Jutsu Kushina Version should get the job done.
Wait.
What.
That's morally twisted.
I… well, I could care less about morality.
But… something's not right. I am missing something.
But what?
Under the canopy of the lush forest, the morning sun filtered through the leaves, casting a dappled light on the clearing where Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage, stood with two silver bells glinting at his waist. Before him, his new potential team of Genin: Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara, waited with bated breath.
Obito, ever the hot-blooded and eager one, was the first to spring into action. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, "This is it, my chance to prove I'm just as good as Kakashi!" He charged, his eyes scanning for any sign of weakness in Minato's defence.
Minato watched with an unreadable expression, his blue eyes tracking Obito's movements with the calm of a seasoned shinobi. Obito lunged, reaching for the bells with a speed that belied his usual clumsiness.
"Not bad, Obito! But..." Minato's voice was a gentle chide as he vanished in a yellow flash, reappearing behind Obito with ease. "You'll have to be faster than that!"
Obito stumbled, turning to face Minato, frustration etched on his face. "Darn it!" he cursed under his breath, "I was so close!"
Obito ran through hand signs before settling on a tiger seal.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
The huge ball of fire touched nothing but thin air as Minato was seen on a tree branch, grinning at them.
"That was very impressive," he said slyly. "Although, it wasn't as strong as an average Uchiha should be capable of doing."
Obito flustered before looking at Rin. The girl was looking at…
Kakashi?!
No… it…
"Your mask…" she said.
No! Does she find it cool! No!
"That makes you look like an idiot." She finished.
What?
"Whatever," Kakashi ignored her, but his eyebrows were twitching. "At least I don't have purple lines under my eyes."
"That still doesn't make you not-an-idiot." She flatly said.
"Ah-huh!" Obito beamed, totally forgetting about him fighting against the Yellow Flash. "See bastard, she finds you boring."
"Not boring, but still, an idiot." She corrected him.
"It's nice seeing you guys getting along," Minato said from behind Obito, freezing him on the spot. "But, we have some unfinished business…"
Obito attacked first, only for his fist to meet with a log. He screamed in pain.
From the sidelines, Kakashi watched with his usual detached coolness, his young mind analysing the situation. 'Obito's direct approach is reckless. I need a strategy,' he thought, his hand subconsciously touching the kunai tucked in his pouch.
He ran towards Minato, before Minato could counter, he shunshined behind the Namikaze. He held the kunai to the man's throat.
"That was fast," Minato chuckled. "But I am faster." He vanished in a yellow flash.
The silver-haired prodigy faced his sensei, Minato, who was now in front of him. The bell test was more than a trial; it was a dance of minds and fists, a lesson wrapped in the guise of combat.
Kakashi moved first, his body a blur of motion as he darted through the trees. His mind was clear, focused, every step calculated. He wasn't just approaching Minato; he was setting the stage for an intricate trap. With a swift hand seal, he whispered, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" A barrier of earth rose up, attempting to hem Minato in.
But Minato was the Yellow Flash; his nickname was no mere boast. He leaped effortlessly over the wall, his gaze locked onto Kakashi. "Good, but not good enough," he said, his voice carrying the lightness of the wind.
Kakashi wasn't deterred. He knew the reputation of his teacher, knew that this was a mountain to climb, a test of his very will. He formed another seal, "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Water gathered from the moisture in the air, swirling into the forms of big bullets, flew towards Minato.
Minato's response was a flicker, a mere shift in the air as he sidestepped the attack. "You're holding back, Kakashi. Where's that fire?" he taunted, though his eyes were warm, encouraging.
The dance continued, Kakashi weaving through the jutsu at his disposal. He tried Fire Style, sending a stream of flames towards Minato, who countered with a Wind Style jutsu, dispersing the attack. Kakashi then attempted Lightning Style, the crackle of electricity singing the air, but Minato grounded the attack with an Earth Style counter.
The forest was alive with their battle, the ground scorched and wet in turns, the air charged with energy. Kakashi, breathing heavily, wasn't just fighting to win; he was learning with every move, every failure. He was understanding the meaning of being a shinobi.
Minato watched, pride in his eyes, as Kakashi refused to give up. He saw the determination, the raw talent, the spark that would one day make Kakashi a legend in his own right.
As the sun began to rise higher in the sky, casting smaller shadows, Kakashi gathered his chakra for one final move. "This is it," he thought, "my last chance." With a flurry of hand seals, he unleashed his Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating six copies of himself, all rushing towards Minato from every direction.
Minato stood still, a smile playing on his lips. As the clones descended, he vanished once more, reappearing above them. With a gentle tap, he dispelled the clones, landing softly on the ground as the real Kakashi emerged from hiding, a look of respect on his face.
"You've done well, Kakashi," Minato said as the boy collapsed on the ground due to Chakra exhaustion. "But remember, the true strength of a shinobi is not in the jutsu they wield, but in the hearts they touch." He looked at the only girl in the team. According to the academy reports, she was an aspiring medic-nin with chunin level chakra control. She was kind-hearted and optimistic. Although she had poor taijutsu scores.
"You're not going to try to take the bells?" He asked her, who was sitting under a tree.
"Hmm?" She gave him a bored look. "Only if you take me seriously."
Huh.
Overconfident.
So…
"Only if you can land a single…"
He received a punch to his gut. It had astonishing strength behind it. He tried not to pass out.
"That's… that's… a new."
Of course it is.
Since when could an academy student land a hit on a Jounin?
"Are you going to take me seriously now?" She said with a bored look. But he could see concealed excitement in her eyes.
"Sure."
She grinned like a fox. A grin that was too similar to Kushina's.
She lunged forward with a Toad-style taijutsu. Good lord, where did she learn that from?
Namikaze dodged a roundhouse kick meant for his abdomen. He swiftly caught her wrist and twisted it. The girl moaned in agony.
"Not so cool now, eh?" He mocked.
"Yep." Then, in a poof of smoke, she disappeared.
Substitution?
No…
Shadow Clone?!
A dozen kunoichi grinned at him, their faces full of mischief.
"Sensei~" one of them said. "There's a jutsu I want to try out."
"Uh… go ahead?" He gulped. He did not like this.
"Harem-no-jutsu!"
A bunch of poofs of smoke engulfed the ground.
"Mina-kun~~~~~~"
Obito and Kakashi found themselves in an odd situation.
"Where am I?" Obito asked particularly no one.
"You are tied with a training log as a punishment due not being able to get a bell and same goes for me."
Oh.
Each of them was tied to a tree log.
And they were hungry.
Slurp.
Slurp.
Slurp.
What's that smell…
"Rin?!"
The girl, who was sitting on the ground close to them, was slurping ramen.
"You… how…"
"Apparently, she managed to get two bells." Kakashi explained. "But Minato-sensei won't tell how she did that."
Obito looked at his sensei who was sitting next to a tree with a napkin… wiping his… nose?
Oh. So she punched him in the nose.
She must have caught him off guard.
Obito had no idea he was almost right.
Minato appeared before them with a shunshin. A faint blush on his cheeks.
"Sooo…" he began. "Both of you did well for genins," Kakashi glared at the man. "But, Obito, you were too reckless. You attacked without a plan. Kakashi, you did have a plan but it wasn't flawless. Rin on the other hand…"
They looked at her.
Slurp.
Slurp.
Slurp.
"...managed to get not one, but two bells." Minato continued. "So as promised, she gets to eat three bowls of whatever she wishes and you boys…" he smiled. "...will get nothing." He looked at the girl. "Rin?" Slurp. Slurp. "Uh, don't give them ANY FOOD unless you want to pass. Am I clear?"
The girl nodded before concentrating on the food.
Slurp.
Minato rubbed his temple.
The girl had ordered fifteen bowls of ramen.
What a monster.
He disappeared in a shunshin before reappearing behind a tree.
Let's see if they are worth being a team.
As the test continued, the forest echoed with the sounds of their efforts, the rustling leaves whispering the tale of their growth, their failures, and their unwavering spirit to become true shinobi under the guidance of Minato Namikaze.
The sun had begun its descent, casting a warm golden hue over the village as I stood there, bowls of steaming ramen in hand. The day's test had been gruelling, and the silence that followed Minato-sensei's departure was filled with nothing but the sounds of me slurping ramen.
I glanced at Kakashi and Obito, both of whom were trying to maintain their usual façade of indifference and bravado, respectively. Yet, the rumbling of their stomachs betrayed their hunger, a hunger that mirrored my own.
"Here," I said, extending the bowls towards them. "Eat. You both need it."
Kakashi eyed the ramen with a sceptic's gaze, as if questioning the motives behind the offering. Obito, on the other hand, seemed to be waging an internal battle between his pride and the very real, very human need for sustenance.
"We don't need your pity, Rin," Kakashi finally muttered, though his voice lacked its usual sharpness.
"It's not pity," I replied, a gentle firmness in my tone. "It's ramen. And it's getting cold."
Obito's resolve crumbled first. "Thanks, Rin," he mumbled, a sheepish grin spreading across his face.
"Uh…" he smiled. "Our bindings?"
Oh.
Right.
With a sigh, I summoned two shadow clones, one of whom proceeded to feed Obito while the other gave Kakashi agrin.
Kakashi followed suit, albeit more reluctantly. "Fine," he conceded, taking the bowl from my hands. "But only because it would be a waste otherwise."
"You're so cool, Rin-chan!" Obito mumbled, noodles in his mouth.
"Believe it!"
Tch. There we go again.
We settled down on the grass, the quiet slurping of noodles soon joining the symphony of evening sounds. The ramen was simple, yet it held the warmth of a day's hard work and the promise of strength for tomorrow's challenges.
As we ate, I couldn't help but reflect on the bond that was slowly, almost imperceptibly, forming between us. We were teammates, yes, but we were also becoming something more—a family forged in the fires of shared experiences and unspoken understandings.
The ramen was finished all too soon, but the feeling of contentment lingered. We rose to our feet, a newfound camaraderie lighting our steps as we made our way back to the village.
Beneath the sheltering embrace of the training ground's foliage, the atmosphere was laden with a tension so tangible, it seemed to weave itself into the very fabric of the air. My heart, Rin Nohara's, pounded with a ferocity that mirrored the lethal intent radiating from Minato. It was an intensity that threatened to choke the life from our surroundings. Obito and Kakashi, my comrades in arms, stood immobilised, their faces etched with a blend of trepidation and resolve.
Abruptly, the severe countenance of Minato dissolved into a broad smile, and his laughter cascaded through the woodland, a stark contrast to the earlier gravity. "You pass," he proclaimed, the sternness once present in his tone now infused with warmth and pride.
I found myself momentarily disoriented by the abrupt change, but as I listened to Minato expound on the virtues of camaraderie, the soothing nature of his words calmed my jolted senses. I grasped then that the fear we had experienced was but a veiled lesson. It spoke of trust, of mutual dependence, and of the formidable power born of togetherness.
Contemplating Minato's wisdom, I, felt a surge of admiration for my mentor and a strengthened connection with Obito and Kakashi. We had weathered the ordeal as one, and in unity, we had found our strength.
The path ahead was uncertain, filled with trials and tribulations we could scarcely imagine. But at that moment, with the taste of ramen still on our lips and the bonds of friendship strengthening, we were ready to face whatever the future held.
Together.
TBC