Last time
Naruko passed her graduation exam and became a genin. On the way to celebrate with her sensei, Mizuki tried to kill them.
Chapter 3
–
Kakashi peered through the eye holes of his ANBU mask toward the grisly scene in front of him. There were no casualties from anyone loyal to Lord Hokage… except for one, perhaps. The rest were all dead, shuriken planted in their skulls or their carotids slashed open. He and the ANBU had arrived too late and only witnessed the aftermath of a few dozen paper bombs, carried in the hands of suicidal rogue ninja and villagers going off all at once. The party of people around the crater were traitors, every rotten one of them, and none had made any testament to the contrary. They were here to murder a child and a teacher, so they were murdered in turn.
Iruka Umino was now deceased; there were details about the scene that were missing, but that much was certain.
Yugao finished cleaning her blade and sheathed it, standing by his side now. "We interrogated one of the traitors. It was exactly as we thought: Mizuki was the mastermind behind all of it."
Kakashi replied with a weak noise.
The cemetery they were standing in was leveled. Scraps and shapes of destroyed grave stones, pieces of the memorial stone scattered through the grass, bloodied ninja tools from when the ANBU arrived and tore the treacherous Konoha ninja to pieces on the Hokage's orders. His hand balled into a fist when he spotted an obsidian chunk of the memorial a few meters away; the names written on it burnt off by the bombing.
"We think the targets were Naruko and that fake ninja Sai Uzumaki."
Kakashi breathed in and blinked his one good eye. "We still haven't located their remains."
It was more a statement than a question. "So far, nothing. We're not sure if they died, but…" Her voice lessened and the dark sockets of her mask fell. "...Iruka was of chunin rank, not unskilled, but with him being surrounded on all sides and given his psych profile… Still," she added, "we don't know the full abilities of that Sai Uzumaki, except that he knew two classified jutsu and was skilled enough to teach them to the academy's least gifted student."
Kakashi scanned the cemetery until Mizuki entered his sight. The ex-chunin had his eyes wide open and the corners of his face stretched. Kakashi would personally write in his report about the kunai that tore through Mizuki's throat. The punishment for revealing the truth about the 9-Tails was death, pure and simple and without exception. Kakashi made an exception this time, however, and ordered one of the ANBU to keep him alive. A bandage covered in blood was tied around Mizuki's throat as he rasped, flinging small curses and feeble ramblings at his captors.
It was the least they could do to avenge Iruka and make sure his murderer paid a heavy price.
"Whoever he was, or is," Kakashi said, mumbling, "I doubt he went through all the trouble of stalking Naruko just so they could be blown up in a foolhardy assassination attempt."
Yugao's eyes were on him now, inquisitive and probably not used to him speaking this much.
"We gathered DNA samples from Sai Uzumaki and the labs confirmed they were a genetic match for Naruko."
"Yes of course but," Yugao said in a whisper. "You don't really think…?"
Kakashi shook his head as an ANBU dragged one of the bodies and formed a line of them. "I'm not sure what to think honestly."
They'd spent days observing this 'Sai' and found him disturbing to say the least. Who was he really? He knew the Shadow Clone jutsu and the Rasengan. Kakashi could count on one hand the number of people who even knew the latter technique existed and could wield it. A sample of the boy's hair had proven undeniably that he was somehow related to Naruko, making his last name even more confusing. The Third confirmed that no one from Naruko's ancestry should still be alive.
Exhaling, Kakashi continued: "What we know is that we have two missing persons, the village Jinchuriki and a mysterious relative. The Third asked us to form search parties, confirm the dead, and..."
Finish killing the traitors, his inner voice said. Kakashi looked at the piece of the Memorial Stone on the ground, and scowled behind his mask.
"If Naruko is still alive, I'm going to find her."
–
Kakashi Hatake was always a source of interest to the man watching him from afar, presence shrouded from the small army of ANBU black ops that filled the newly-renovated graveyard. The man's attention was on something else however, something that nobody else present noticed: a subtle shimmer, a hole or gap in the space from which a series of paper bombs had gone off and engulfed Naruto Uzumaki. A glimmer of hope in this strange new reality.
The man had witnessed all of these events just moments before getting involved himself. He still had a ton of new information to process and this new discovery was now at the top of his list. It wasn't an illusion. This incredible thing was a disturbance in the fabric of reality, and more than that. It was an entrance to an entirely new reality.
He could sense that it led somewhere; a door to someplace else not unlike the Kamui. This phenomenon couldn't be ignored any more the second time than it had the first, and just like the first, his window for exploring this portal was getting smaller. He had little time to pursue Naruto Uzumaki. Without him the Moon's Eye Plan was finished.
In some small way he supposed he needed to congratulate Orochimaru. When the man had first discovered this portal and walked through it, curiosity getting the better of him, that had been the result of whatever Orochimaru did to Naruto Uzumaki to overload his seal and cause the event that destroyed the remains of Tenchi Bridge. A shame the snake doctor hadn't lived to understand the depth of his discovery.
That role was left to Madara Uchiha as he slipped the boundaries of space and time once more, following the Jinchuriki of the 9-Tails to wherever this portal between worlds took them next, unnoticed.
–
Naruto found himself waking up in the afterlife which looked awfully like the floor of his apartment. There were ramen cups on the floor, bags of garbage and half-read mangas in piles. His vision cleared, Naruko was right next to him, her jacket ripped and her black shirt visible on her right side.
He was no worse for wear himself, but Naruko was still unconscious. He called out to her and got no response. Rushing to her side, he lifted her head and called again, getting no answer.
He panicked. The air in his lungs went frigid.
A line of blood dripped around the corner of her mouth. He burn scars etched her face, neck, and right arm. He panicked. Just as soon he'd noticed it, the scarring began healing, and then disappeared. He panicked. The 9-Tails, he figured. For the first time in his life he was glad it existed. He-
They weren't in Naruko's apartment. She wasn't a neat freak, but she'd maintained a cleaner living space than this one. Strands of light poking through the blinds. There was some kind of paper outside of the window blocking the view.
Naruko stirred in his arms, weary eyes finding him.
"Naruko!"
The young, injured girl winced and searched the apartment with foggy eyes. She asked him where Iruka-sensei was and what had just happened.
"Boss?"
Naruto tried not to look her in the eye as Naruko rose to her feet. Her voice quivered. "...Sai?" The name hopped from her mouth then rolled around uselessly on the floor. Betrayal on two legs with one syllable, making the incredibly short distance between the two of them much, much greater. Naruko worked her way to her feet without him leaving her gaze.
After an uncomfortable silence he found the strength to speak.
That was Naruko's cue to bolt; she sprinted upstairs.
"Naruko, wait!"
He gave chase, nearly tripping over a misplaced garbage bag and hearing the sound of a window sliding open. The second floor window was forced open and Naruko's fleeing form leapt out of it. Naruto clutched the edges of the window. "Naruko, just wait a second! Come back!"
If she heard him at all, she didn't care and continued running away from him. Grimacing, Naruto placed his foot on the window ledge and vaulted outside.
–
Sure, Naruto wasn't the most observant ninja, but he didn't miss as many details as most would think.
They were still in Konoha but something was different, again. The emptier streets and the masked people that appeared on every corner. ANBU. Naruto transformed into Sasuke mid-sprint, and a morbid memory stabbed his brain as he continued his pursuit. Not helped when he noticed the number of crimson glares he kept getting from some of the masked people he ran past.
Naruko was a fast runner. She'd made it more than three blocks and zipped through a marketplace. Making things worse was that this was one of five different copies of her. Naruto did the same, making shadow clones that split off and chased each of her clones while he followed this one. Disguised as Sasuke, he hid behind buildings, ducked behind crates, and watched his target from rooftops earning more than a few baffled looks from girls who looked to be about Naruko's age. She ran to the Konoha Ninja Academy and found a route to the great stairs that would take one to the Hokage Monument.
She finally stopped at a bench. He caught up with her and dropped his disguise "Naruko, please, let me explain," he shouted to her and she turned to escape, falling over and grabbing a nearby railing, her chest going up and down as she pointed at him.
"Who are you?" she yelled. "No tricks! Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei said you're a fraud! And… and…"
Her expression went flat.
"Naruko, look, I'll tell you everything, but first you have to calm down!" he pleaded. "I don't think we're safe here!"
"Why should I believe anything you say?" That made Naruto stop in mid-step. "You lied to me and got Iruka-sensei killed!"
"I…" A lump blocked his throat. "You saw what happened. That was Mizuki. He's a rat who wants power for himself. He was going to use you to get what he wanted and kill us once he did."
"Why did you lie to me this whole time? I trusted you!" Tears started in the girl's eyes. "I thought you were some awesome ninja teacher! I told Iruka-sensei he could come meet you and then… then after that all of those guys showed up and…"
Naruto shuddered. "Naruko," he said, "that wasn't your fault or mine. Look, there's some things I need to tell you. I just didn't know how to say them because they don't make sense to me either."
She brushed the tears from her eyes. "Start talking, or I'm reporting you to the Hokage, right now you impostor."
Naruto sighed and rubbed the sides of his temples, taking a seat on the platform as Naruko studied him, trying to determine whether she should hear him out or punch his lights out.
"Okay, listen. My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he explained. "I come from the Hidden Leaf Village but not the same as this one, a different one. In my world Mizuki lied to me to get me to steal a scroll for him and I graduated because of Iruka-sensei. Those same events almost occurred just now, except I showed up, I think, and I think you passing made him go ballistic. Whatever. The point is, things didn't happen this way. I had to steal the scroll to learn how to make Shadow Clones.
"Naruko, I don't know if you know this, but we were badly hurt when we woke up in your apartment." Naruko looked down at herself briefly to confirm this. "Those wounds have already healed, haven't they?" She didn't move. Naruto took a breath and closed his eyes. "Haven't you ever noticed how your body heals itself? You mean you didn't think it was weird, no matter how much you got hurt?"
Naruko listened.
"We're the same, you and I." He put his hands to his chest, facing her. "We were born with a demon sealed in us." At that, Naruko shivered.
"That's, that's what Mizuki said-"
"Unfortunately he was telling the truth." He sighed and moved so that he was kneeling, staring at Naruko with weak determination. "But he didn't tell you that out of kindness. You and me, we have the 9-Tails in us. That's what the 4th Hokage wanted… had to do in order to save the village. It's why the village hates us. They're scared of what's inside of us. So scared that…"
He wanted to say something else, but stopped. Those people… had actually tried to kill Naruko and him. He searched his memory and not once had the people in his village done that, save Mizuki. Showing up, teaching Naruto the jutsu had changed something.
He waited for her to gather her strength. Naruko's chest stopped heaving, her breath no longer panting. "I don't believe it." Her eyes squeezed downard. "So that was the reason? This whole time, and everybody knew except me?"
"Yes," he said with something absent in his voice. What it was, he wasn't sure.
They stayed that way, him and her, not saying anything. At least she wasn't running anymore, or if there were still four other copies of her then maybe he could convince them, too.
Naruko turned from him to the village on the other side of the platform. "Even if I believe that stuff about the fox, how do I believe any of this other stuff? You're a guy version of me from some other world?"
Naruto stood up but stayed where he was. "That's why I got confused and went to your apartment." He took out his house key. "That's why I have an exact copy of your key. In my world, I live there by myself. I really am a genin," he said, poking his forehead protector with his thumb. "Iruka was my sensei, I went to the academy, and I've lived here my whole life."
"Tell me something only I would know," she said, facing him.
Seconds passed. Then, he replied with, "Ichiraku Ramen is the best ramen in the whole wide world, and the little Naruto fishcake they put in it is the best part."
She didn't laugh. Instead, she understood and crossed her arms. "Tell me something else."
He gave her a sigh. "I can't." She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know how any of this works, but everything I've done in my life you haven't experienced yet. Wait!" He clapped his fist into his hand. "I know, if you're the same as me then that means you must think Sakura-chan is super-pretty!"
Naruko blushed.
"And I bet you want to ask her to go out with you-"
"Okay, enough, enough!" The girl lost her skeptical look and bent at the knees. "I believe you, I believe you! Stop talking so loudly!"
"Why? No one's going to hear us all the way up here."
"Can we talk about something else?" He nodded. "Okay I think I get all of this," she said.
He recognized the face she made as one he made when he didn't understand something in the slightest.
"You're me?" she said and he agreed. "And I'm you." Again, he agreed. "You came from a different Konoha that's like mine, but you're there instead of me?"
This was progress at least.
"Then how did you get here?"
"I'm not sure." He lifted his shirt and showed her his seal. When he pushed his chakra through his coils the way he normally did, his seal mutated into that weird-looking shape again. "A bad guy named Orochimaru attacked me and did something to me. This seal on my stomach, it's the same one you have on yours that contains the 9-Tails. When he touched it something happened and I woke up somewhere else."
His face flushed with muted relief. This was the first time he'd gotten to say it out loud, and to somebody who didn't think he was insane. Not that she understood any of it any more than he did.
She reached for the edges of her shirt and pulled it up slightly to examine her stomach. There wasn't anything there because she'd never learned how to access the fox's chakra the way he did.
"I can show you how to… deal with that… but first, I really think we should head back home, or find a safer place to talk after all of that running."
Uncertainty fell onto Naruko's face. "I don't know how we got back from the cemetery, or where Iruka-sensei is or if you're really telling the truth, but we are home. This is the village, isn't it?"
Naruto mastered his features and noticed a hanging poster flapping on the platform railing. He took it and frowned, and when Naruko questioned why he showed her the front of the poster. "That's the problem Naruko…"
It was a picture of Naruto as a boy, younger than Naruko was. A gleam in his eye, depicted with fangs, claws, and huge tails behind his back; the bold print under it read WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE PER ORDER OF THE 4TH HOKAGE AND THE UCHIHA CHIEF OF POLICE, FUGAKU UCHIHA.
"I don't think we are."
–
Many years ago, a baby girl named Hinata was born to the Hyuga clan. Upon reaching the age of three and per the clan's barbaric traditions that they had refused to relinquish since Konoha's founding, she was branded and thus enslaved to the Hyuga clan's "Branch Family."
Hinata's father Hiashi was born seconds after his brother Hizashi. This fated the two siblings to two different paths in life, as their parents described it. Hiashi would be placed in the secondary clan to be a servant and protector of the "Main Branch'' while Hizashi, born just three seconds luckier, was to be the clan's next heir. Hizashi had a son named Neji who he would name as his eventual successor. Neji's skill in the clan's prized taijutsu, the Gentle Fist, was unmatched by nearly anybody in his age group except for one person. Hiashi's second daughter, Hanabi, who would never see the same prestige as her cousin.
This was the cursed mark of the unlucky Hyuga family members. The one they bore on their foreheads for the rest of their lives both as symbols of servitude and as instruments of obedience.
Hinata grew to be a shy girl who her father believed would never be a proud, capable kunoichi in any field. Her sister Hanabi was the opposite, fighting viciously in every spar, struck when Hinata blocked, attacked when there was an opening in her opponent's guard.
It got so noticeable that some of the clansmen activated her curse mark preemptively, fearing that her viciousness would bring harm to a Main Branch member during a sparring match with her. On more than one occasion Hanabi would be bed-ridden for days from having her seal activated. Hiashi, as any father should have, began more than one argument over this, and was punished accordingly.
Neji would be kidnapped one day by a Hidden Cloud ninja seeking the clan's precious Byakugan eyes. Hizashi killed the man where he stood and unknowingly created an international incident. In order to ensure recompense as the Hidden Cloud claimed their innocence in the attack and sought blood for their deceased comrade, a deal was made to deliver the body of Hizashi to the village.
The body delivered was a 100% genetic match for Hizashi Hyuga.
Hinata and Hanabi attended Konoha Ninja Academy with backpacks Hinata packed for them. Their mother had passed away shortly after Hanabi's birth, and it was as if their mother's frailty inspired her youngest to be harder than tree bark. Though Hanabi was far more agile and lethal than her sister, she was still in a younger grade and not considered old enough for promotion to active duty. Hinata meanwhile was seen as an average student but the dead-last of the kunoichi class.
This was the first thing she and Naruto Uzumaki had in common when they met. The second thing was when Hanabi died months later from a cerebral hemorrhage, and Hinata found herself alone. With no family left, a coldness awakened within little Hinata. She trained herself to fulfill her only goal: become the sword that the Main Family carried into battle.
–
Naruto did a once-over and so did Naruko. Their apartment, covered in industrial tape and a sign on the door that read KEEP OUT.
"They… what happened?" asked Naruko. "Why is my place all covered up?"
"I dunno," Naruto said. "Whatever it is, it doesn't look good."
Whenever they crossed the street a pair of red eyes followed them. There were occasional distractions, a head bouncing from a sheet of paper to them, or a lost child looking for their parents. The most horrifying sight was that of Ichiraku Ramen being closed. At a point between the walk from the Hokage Rock to the residential areas, one of the masked, red-eyed ninja stopped them. The ninja silently reached for his side pouch with one hand and examined them, holding a piece of paper in front of them. Some pregnant seconds passed and the man made a hand-seal with one of his hands, disappearing in a blast of smoke.
Naruto ushered Naruko along and deflected her questions. That wasn't the last time they got checked on either.
"So where are we?"
"I don't know." He frowned and stamped his foot. "Grr, I need to figure out how this seal works and get us home!" He made a hand-seal and growled, but nothing happened no matter how much chakra he kneaded together. It was in that instant that two strange things occurred and the twin blonds paled.
The first was that a group of ten or eleven masked, crimson-glowing ninja surrounded them. They wore animal masks, slits etched into the sides, dark circles burrowing. The leader stepped forward and told them, "Surrender yourselves into Konoha's custody."
Naruto thought to pop a shadow clone, take Naruko and make a dash for it. The girl however had lost all of the color in her face.
"Na, Naruko?"
The blonde girl shook, actually began shaking. Her eyes widened and her fingers grasped the sides of her head to dig into her temples. She lumbered entire body lumbering forward, knees finally giving, depositing her onto the dirt. A choked scream bubbled out of her lungs.
Naruto rushed to catch her as she went limp. "Naruko!" The girl's eyes stayed awake and moved left and right. There was no predicting where they would go next. Damn it, she was shaking. "Naruko! Snap out of it!" Wet, frosted-over eyes and lips glared back at moved in the dirt around him. An ANBU in a fox mask entered his view.
"Hey, she needs help! I-I need help, she's-"
The fox-masked ANBU bent his neck towards him and spoke in slow, deliberate pauses.
"Surrender. Yourself. Now."
Naruto saw a flash of crimson before everything went dark.
–
"Naruko?"
She heard her name through the veil. Breathing became a pattern of sucking in little pieces of glass through her nostrils; as soon as she managed to hold her breath, the sensation ceased. A pool of water breached her extremities. In every direction stretched a length of grime and urine-colored water. She collapsed forward and covered her mouth, breath ragged and rapid, flecks of water catching both of her eyes forcing her to blink.
In front of her a huge… creature loomed over her. A creature many, many… many times larger than her apartment. Probably bigger than the Hokage faces. Bright red fur, black eyelids, and snarling teeth. They stayed like this until she noticed the orange walls between them. Heat that shot from the body of water, heat howling directly at her. Naruko fell backward onto her hands.
"You," the creature spoke a single word.
Naruko didn't respond.
"I should devour you, little girl," it said in a voice that caused the water around her ankles to vibrate, "but this gate... it's sealed somehow. How vexing."
"Wh... what are you?"
A mist of tight, gray smoke hissed from the shadows. A row of steel bars separated them from behind the wall of flaming chakra. She was safe in a manner of speaking. The fox was the one caged here.
"Wait, I get it. You're... you're the Nine-Tailed Fox!"
A roar blasted the sides of her eardrums.
"Listen brat!" the fox shouted at her. "Stay still and pay attention!"
She listened.
The fox extended one of its claws. The end of the claw was taller than her. "Listen to me clearly," it said. "Pay attention because you're not going to understand half of what I'm going to say. There is a presence here in this world, this world your so-called friend brought us to. Your friend doesn't know. He doesn't share the same connection to it that we do.
"Presence?"
Another blast of steam occurred, irritating her skin. "This presence has chakra similar to my own, maybe even greater, somehow." The fox shifted and Naruko could make out a large portion of itself, facing something new in the humongous chamber. "It is a tailed beast sealed inside of a pathetic human. That much is for certain. And I have no idea if it knows that we're here or not, or what it plans to do if we should walk into its path. Be careful. Be vigilant."
The monster's claw was too close now. Naruko lost feeling in her legs except for the strange urge that she was being drawn forward, pulled forward somehow. She winced at the sharp jab in her stomach.
"This seal," the beast said and growled. "Multiple universes, multiple tailed beasts. Astounding. That phony Naruko Uzumaki claimed something happened to his seal. Changed it. Maybe if I could recreate it…"
Naruko straddled her legs as the claw lunged, barely missing her and splashing water around her. The fox's eyes lit with discovery even as its limbs reacted with violence.
"Take off your shirt, runt," the fox ordered, ignoring her confusion. "That seal could be the answer to my predicament. If he could use it to cross into other worlds, then so should you.."
She yelled at the fox, "I'm not giving you anything and I'm sure as hell not doing that! Stay the heck away from me and my sensei!" she said, her voice shaking. "I-I'm warning you!"
The distance between the fox's claws and Naruko was at maximum clearance. It couldn't reach her though the fact that it was unharmed from the flames made her uneasy.
"Goddamned runt. Fine then, keep hiding on the other side. I will be watching you, and we'll talk again when you finally realize how screwed you really are," Naruko stood slowly as the fox continued, a drop of venom in its voice as it laughed at her.
The flames shook and weakened, no longer illuminating the water. Small puffs of orange licked the air while the water grew freezing. Gravity pulled her head down beneath the water. Naruko opened her eyes and air exploded out of her lungs as she threw herself up, lying down on a mat placed roughly on the floor behind a new row of prison bars.
A red-eyed man with shoulder-length, copper-colored hair was looking at her. Dressing in white robes and wearing the hat that Hokage wore, he looked ready to scold her.
–
Hinata Hyuuga at 12 years of age belonged at the top of her class. She was a rival to Sasuke Uchiha who was just as determined as she was to reach the top. They'd traded black eyes more than once. Hinata couldn't use her Byakugan for over a week after a spar with him but had made sure his throwing arm and right leg were useless to him for a week in turn. Their rivalry made the other students class into model students. Nobody wanted to face them, or be coerced into sparring with one of them. Iruka Umino's favorite punishment was forcing a sleeping student to fight Sasuke or Hinata. Sasuke would always stare daggers into his opponents. Hinata had a habit of glaring in a way that made the veins on the side of her face stand out more fiercely. Naruto said it made her look creepy. She admired his honesty.
She wore a black shirt and pants. Her beige-colored headband was always on; tied around her head and securing her hair in a ponytail, preventing anyone from seeing the Hyuuga clan's curse mark that stained her forehead. No, according to the elders, honored her face. She kept it covered at all times when she was outside as a private form of revenge.
Today she was going to train in the only training area she knew she wouldn't be bothered. Sasuke liked to train early in the morning too, but she'd never seen him here, and she imagined there was an unspoken agreement that both rivals would never cross each other during self-practice.
The first person she ever saw on that training ground was a different Uchiha altogether. His uniform dark hair was a spiky mess that looked more like crow feathers glued together than actual hair. A high-collared, black shirt too, original, dark-coloured pants, and a harness for a blade running over his back and shoulders. The symbol of his clan coated the back of his shirt. The Uchiha were a proud, strong clan of the village, but the man sitting there on the tree stump she typically used for kunai-throwing practice was a sad-looking creature rejected from the nest, sulking in the wilderness.
What brought him here?
His head moved and they met eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry," he began, "I must be getting in the way of your practice. I'll move."
Hinata said nothing and allowed him to do so, but her inner voice asked him, "Who are you?"
She ruthlessly silenced it but, too late. "Me?" he said with a note of surprise. "My name is Shisui. Shisui Uchiha, if you hadn't guessed the last part," he said with a weak grin.
Hinata didn't return it. "I train here by myself every day, and I've always been here, alone."
She hoped that final part would encourage him to not return at a later date. Alas, it apparently worked and the clan member scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes.
"You're Hyuuga, right?"
Apparently not. "My name is Hinata. That's all."
"Hinata," he repeated, testing the name on his lips in a way that made her skin crawl. "It's a nice name."
"It is."
The breeze picked up. Shisui nodded and started to depart. Hinata set her bag down and proceeded setting up her target practice.
"Can I ask you something?" the clan member's voice called to her.
She pivoted slightly, irritated.
"You're from the Hyuuga clan. The branch family if I had to guess," he said, making her flinch. His thumb went to his right temple. "The branch members have markings. You, too? You cover it up."
Hinata blinked. "Why's that any business of yours?"
This Shisui stood still and said, "Are you loyal to your clan?"
Hinata scoffed. "The Hyuuga are the most powerful clan in the Leaf." More powerful than the Uchiha, certainly.
"But are you loyal to them? Even though you have to do everything they say no matter how terribly they might treat you?"
This made her pause. Then, she said: "I am loyal to my clan. I don't have to like them or be treated well to be of use to them."
"A clan you were born into places you in a servant's role, expects things of you, and can terminate you if and whenever they please, and you choose to be of use to them?"
She could see him frown from meters away. Her heartbeat quickened.
"My path was chosen for me the day I was born. I was to be a skilled fighter of the Branch family, nothing more, nothing less. Destiny chooses our life paths."
His frown deepened and his eyes lowered. "So if, hypothetically, you could change your destiny and be part of the Main Family instead of the Branch one, would you take it?"
"I would not," she answered, teeth gritting. "There would be no point and no such possibility. I was born to be a servant to the rest of my clan. That is what I live for."
"What if you could be a part of something that changed how the Branch Family is treated?"
"It wouldn't change anything."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"The reason for the Hyuuga clan's strength and influence is our devotion to our roles and structure," she said, feet firmly beneath her. "We do not waver in the purpose that destiny has decided for us. Never disrespect the clan or its ways. Always pursue achievements that aid the clan in its endeavors. Nothing about this system needs to change, and nothing about it ever has, or can change."
Shisui exhaled. "So then, no matter what, if you found yourself in a hard position where you had to choose what was best for you, and what was best for your clan-"
"The clan, always," was her reply. Her gaze went to her feet and she mumbled. "Only fools try to fight their lot in life."
Shisui nodded. He smiled again, making a hand seal with one hand. His body suddenly melted into a flock of crows that flew off, dissipating into the clouds overhead. The look of internal sadness on his face as he left was unmistakable.
Hinata remained there for several seconds. Then she resumed getting ready. She had a few hours before Naruto would come and collect her so they could walk to class.
–
They needed to stop meeting like this. Naruto, his hands tied to a chair, and a man with a stony expression, bandana tied around his scalp, hands tucked into the masonry of a dirty gray Konoha uniform. Every breath the man took made the air thinner.
"You look like Naruto," Ibiki told him in his flattest tone.
"Yes-"
"-but an older version, and your headband is legitimate."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you-"
"-or a legitimate forgery." Ibiki closed his eyes and exhaled. "Look kid, Sai, whoever you are, we have no record of you or that girl you were with anywhere in the village. The Uchiha said they spotted you running around making a ruckus. I want to know why you disguised yourself as Sasuke Uchiha, why you were making hand seals in the middle of the village, and what jutsu you were performing." Naruto looked at Ibiki with some amazement. Ibiki responded with, "The reports I receive from the Uchiha are very thorough."
"Grh this doesn't make any sense!" Naruto protested. The next part went under his breath. "The Uchiha were wiped out years ago."
Ibiki raised his eyebrow. "What did you mean 'the Uchiha got wiped out'?" Naruto, dumbfounded, looked at him again. Apparently the scary man could read lips pretty well because of course he could.
"Nevermind, you wouldn't believe me any more than I believe anything else here anyway!"
A chair squealed against the floor of the interrogation room. Ibiki lowered into it and gestured with his arm, saying in a platonic tone, "Try me, kid. My profession requires me to believe a lot of things."
Naruto thought it over and admitted to himself that Ibiki wasn't kidding. Sure he could tell him the truth and Ibiki would call him insane and probably walk out of the room. Or he might not believe him, make good on the threats that the previous Ibiki made. Maybe he could read the truth on Naruto's face no matter how unbelievable, and maybe Naruto could finally have an adult to communicate with about his dilemma.
Naruto sucked in a breath through his nostrils. He decided he would trust Ibiki for the time being.
–
The door to the interrogation room opened and out of it emerged a forward-facing Ibiki. He pulled the door shut with one hand then looked at one of the chunin stationed there to guard the door.
"Everything, uh, alright sir?" asked the chunin as Ibiki took a few steps down the hall.
Ibiki heard the question and stopped. "The kid's insane," he replied softly. "Creative, but insane. I'm wasting my time here. Throw him out, make sure he doesn't hurt himself."
The chunin gawked at Ibiki as the older man departed. The chunin poked their head around, seeing the kid they brought in slumped in his chair with his head in his hands, rocking back and forth.
–
"I have a different solution," Shisui Uchiha had said to a very surprised clan head, Fugaku Uchiha, one morning. Shisui abhorred unnecessary violence. The Uchiha were plotting a coup d'etat and were going to wipe out the Leaf's highest command. Shisui had planned to take the normal route home, and think about his treacherous actions. Instead, he'd gone to skip rocks in isolation. Eventually one of his Uchiha brothers arrived and escorted him to the clan meeting. Shisui had the strangest sensation he was being watched although the Uchiha beside him remained cordial.
The clan head, Itachi's father, gathered the members who were most vocal. The council, the teachers, the parents. The crow-eyed and the ash-haired, bearded, full and thin. They gathered in that medium-sized room and the doors remained closed to discuss what they wanted to do about their "situation."
The speed of Shisui's eyes returning to their normal black went unnoticed.
"You may speak, Shisui."
Fugaku opened the floor to him. Shisui cleared his throat and stood. The others disliked this.
"Why is this boy speaking to us?"
"Who even let this boy have a sayy?"
"He's Kagami's only living family," a voice whispered.
Shisui said, "We've all seen what the village thinks of us. Quartering us off, keeping eyes on us, treating us like vermin. But that's only half of the big picture. The Uchiha aren't just kept around like a curse hanging over the village. We're peacekeepers, charged with keeping everybody safe.
The Uchiha and the Senju founded this village. We are part of the Leaf's destiny, destined from the start at the roots of what became our village today. For every person that doubts or shuns us, there are two more who believe in us, trust in us. Can anyone here deny this?"
The room was quiet.
"Lord Fugaku," Shisui continued, staring directly at him and kneeling. "I ask you, wisest of us, to finally act on these perceived transgressions our clansmen have with the rest of the village."
The copper-haired clan leader spoke in a firm tone. "You're asking for me to end our plans, Shisui?"
He nodded. "You've said it yourself numerous times that the hatred our brethren feel is exaggerated and that your faith in Lord Hokage hasn't shaken."
Fugaku shook his head, his voice gravelly. "My feelings as an individual and the general welfare of our clan are not exclusive. I'm not keen on committing to bloodshed, but if the village forces our hand… then so be it. Everyone here, myself included, agrees that a show of force is needed."
"We are not barbarians, Lord Fugaku. We can act differently from how the village sees us."
"They think the Uchiha were responsible for the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack!" said a woman's voice. "They blame and prosecute us for the killing of hundreds!
Shisui controlled his shivering and hoped no one saw. "They were frightened and the village was burning. There were reports of an unknown ninja controlling the fox." He paused, searching for the answer he needed. "Historically," he added, "the Sharingan is the only dojutsu capable of controlling the Nine-Tails. Their paranoia is understandable."
"Those reports were falsified," a man's voice said.
"They were not," said the woman from before, eyes descending on her quickly. Briefly lowering hers, not seeing the flash of red in Shisui's gaze, she continued, "There are good people in the Hokage's office and the ranks of ANBU who I trust with my life. I may dislike the majority of our detractors, but I cannot deny that there was reason to cast suspicion on our clan."
"You can't be serious."
"No, she is right," said someone else. "There were Sharingan patterns discovered on the beast's eyes during the attack. People were terrified, but there were more than 250 accounts…"
"Even if they are accurate, no one here is responsible for the demon fox's attack. The village blames us and pushes us as far to the border as possible."
"They'll keep doing this until they've pushed us out entirely. Something needs to change!"
"Then we can change them," Shisui spoke up, slamming his hands on his knees. "The Uchiha are the roots of the Hidden Leaf. Our destiny and this village's are linked. We don't need to destroy to make things change for us. The Leaf will prosper just as the Uchiha clan will prosper. All we need is for our strongest and wisest to represent us, show the village and remind them of who we are."
One of the men from before raised himself from the floor. He was wearing a flak jacket, making him out to be one of the active-duty shinobi of the village. "Lord Fugaku." The clan leader motioned for the shinobi to speak. "The candidacy for the next Hokage seat is still open."
Fugaku's eyes widened just a little. Shisui's lips became a grin.
"The village will never accept Lord Fugaku's leadership!"
"They will," shouted someone across the room. "We've talked the last few weeks about the best way to slash throats, which throats to cut, and how long it would take to decapitate the Konoha council. Did we spend any time revisiting the topic of Lord Fugaku making changes within?"
The grin widened just a little.
An argument started over whether or not it was worth going back to the idea of political change and disbanding the war hawk committee. Fugaku settled it and appealed to the clan's heritage as Shisui had and their place among the village's founders. Even the rowdiest, most bitter among the crowd finally bowed their heads; their respect for Fugaku's opinion overpowering their individual perspectives. The meeting closed an hour later and some members stuck behind – Shisui, five men, six women, Fugaku, and Itachi's mother – to discuss the formation of a new Uchiha movement.
Fugaku Uchiha had kind, warm eyes among a clan of people known for bloody irises. It was of no surprise to most that the Uchiha pushed him as a candidate for the 5th Hokage. The council members initially didn't suggest Fugaku. That was, until, Shisui reported the clan's intentions to the Third Hokage who mulled over the prospects of Fugaku being his chosen successor. Sarutobi had already decided on a successor however; a young man, Minato Namikaze, who had proven his worth on the battlefield.
–
The man watching her on the opposite side of the room had the scariest, most wicked-looking eyes she had ever seen. The Hokage hat he wore would have put her at ease if not for the face it was attached to.
"My name is Fugaku Uchiha," he stated, eyes glowing red. "I would like to know who you and your friend are."
Naruko had a feeling she didn't like this man. "I'm… hey, why am I here? And why are you wearing the old man's clothes?"
The man's face didn't change. "Who is this old man?"
She grabbed the bars in front of her and kept her face an inch away from them. "The old man of course! The guy on the big statue out there? Wait, what did you do with Sai-sensei?"
"Sai." Fugaku closed his eyes.
"Yeah, my teach… nevermind, where is he?"
"I'm right here," Sai-sensei replied to her, suddenly appearing when she blinked. The drop of joy in her expression evaporated into confusion. "What's wrong? You look like you hit your head."
Naruko rubbed her eyes. "How did-" she said, "Sai, is that really you?"
The man from before was gone, and Sai was here, talking to her the whole time. "Who else would I be?" he said… with a deepness in his voice that Naruko didn't remember from earlier.
"I… I was talking to somebody else a moment ago and I…" A sharp, brief pain flicked the back of her head and Naruko's head jerked forward. Her vision changed color and small pockets of light hurt her eyes. When she opened them Sai was no longer there. "Ow. I… Sai?"
The man from before lifted one of his eyebrows and said, with his arms crossed, "Yeah?"
"You're not him."
The man inhaled. Naruko watched the centers of his eyes finish spinning with little black dots. "Perceptive it seems. I will ask you again, and hopefully once you do I will tell you where your friend is. Who are you, and what are you doing in this village?"
Naruko fought the urge to scream for help. "My name is Naruko, and I've lived in this village… if that's where this is… I've lived in the Hidden Leaf my whole life except… until… today…"
When her voice dragged off, the man gained interest. "Naruko is an unusual name," he said. "Just a few letters short of a ramen topping." When she didn't say anything he continued. "Let me begin by saying that you and your friend, Sai, haven't officially done anything criminal. My officers picked you two off of the street after you'd apparently gone into a state of shock. A medical ninja confirmed your vitals were stable so we transported you both here." He must have seen the relief on her face and his features softened slightly. "Sai is in stable condition as well, but people saw him getting ready to perform jutsu in public. You are aware there is a public manhunt for a very dangerous clan killer at the moment?"
"A… clan killer?"
The man nodded. "Someone has attacked the Hyuuga clan residence. A lot of people were… hurt, Naruko. Badly." Fugaku let out a hard breath. "That's the second part of why my men flagged you two. The person, or rather the monster responsible for this crime… is the spitting image of you, if you were a boy, as absurd as that sounds."
There was a single gulping sound in the mostly quiet jail.
"Fortunately we have no strong evidence that you are connected to the killer. However the man you were with and you ended up here today, I'm not staring into the eyes of a bloodthirsty beast."
"A beast?" He nodded again at her questioning face. "Who is he? Why does he look like me?"
Fugaku explained, "He is a boy named Naruto Uzumaki." He paused when Naruko's hands tightened around the bars. "He is a cursed child."
"Cursed?"
"Yes. Cursed by many. My clan, too, was disliked by the village not long ago, but we always had each other to rely on and we managed to create change on our own. Naruto grew up without the love of a mother and father. He was shut out of everything and didn't know why. People ignore him, spit ill words about him to their children who learn to fear him at best, and mock him at worst. He is just a boy, but this village turned him into a monster. Unfortunately it seems the stress of this treatment finally broke him down."
Naruko couldn't believe what she'd heard. "Where is he right now!?" she cried. "Where is Naruto Uzumaki!?"
"It's suspicious that neither of you seem aware of current events."
"Tell me!"
"The Uchiha have been conducting a search and going door to door for any information or sightings of Naruto Uzumaki for about a week now. No one's seen him," he said, taking a few steps to the side, no longer facing her. "That's another reason we brought you two in. Everyone knows who Naruto is now. The law of keeping the Nine-Tails a secret has been repealed."
Naruko hesitated. "Did Na… did Naruto really do those things?"
This was new to Naruko: conversation with someone who didn't seem to hold anything back. Still, she wished it wasn't about something so grave. She thought she'd had that with Sai. Whether it was the grim face that Fugaku had on, the seriousness his shoulders carried, or the things Sai had told her beginning to sink in about being from another world, she didn't think Fugaku was lying about any of this.
"It pains me, but yes, we have multiple eye-witness accounts of Naruto leaving the scene of the massacre and only a single… remaining witness. She's been hospitalized and unable to speak at the moment."
"Who?"
Fugaku drew in another breath, going sideways and pushing his arms further into his sides. "Naruko, let me cut to the point. I don't know who you are and that spooks a number of people. Still, I can tell you aren't dangerous to anyone except maybe to yourself. I can release you from this cell and not think twice about it, but your friend, even if he hasn't done anything, he's made some startling claims and we're aware that he knows ninjutsu." Fugaku pivoted so that his eyes were on her, reddened. "I can only assume you two must have stolen or made fake headbands. Tensions are high right now, police are watching every corner, and I need to know right now if you two are going to be a threat to public safety. Because I simply do not have the manpower or time to keep pranksters detained."
Summoning her courage, Naruko gave him her answer.
–
A Hidden Leaf village full of Uchiha and no Sasuke to be found. Sai idly wondered while the chunin in the flak jacket escorted him outside if Sasuke even existed here. Would he have made the same choices that the Sasuke from his world did were his family still around? And would the Uchiha be this menacing and… "everywhere" if Sasuke's brother hadn't gone crazy?
The sun was still out and the streets were still empty. He couldn't believe they were letting him go after Ibiki straight up walked out on him right after hearing his entire story. Still, he needed to find Naruko as soon as possible and work together on a way to get home.
As if answering his prayers a familiar set of orange pants and blue sandals walked out of the same building behind him. The older person next to her looked at him and her both, told them to stay out of trouble and not rile anyone up, and go home immediately. Then they left, leaving them outside.
"I'm glad you're alright," he said to her. Naruko didn't seem to share that but at least she wasn't angry like before. "What's wrong?"
She made a puzzled face. "Na… Sai, the people in there… They think I look like the kid on that poster. Naruto Uzumaki, the one from this world at least." Her voice was sad and conflicted. When Sai asked her to go on, she said, "They said that Naruto hurt an entire clan. He killed them, didn't he?"
Sai thought about what he needed to say. He certainly didn't want people to sugarcoat things when he was Naruko's age, so he didn't need to deny her the same privilege. "Well, we're new here, so we don't know the whole situation, but the people here look on edge for a reason." He looked at more posters featuring the same artist impression of him, wearing the appearance of a demon. "But come on, there's no way we'd, I mean, no way he'd do something like that!"
"There's something else," said Naruko.
"Oh that's right, are you okay?"
"Yes," she said with a nod. "But when I… passed out… I met the Nine-Tails."
Alarmed, Sai suggested they move away from the building a little bit. The pair walked down the street, passed a few corners, and maintained a steady clip as they lowered their voices.
"Really?"
"Yeah," she said with a gulp. "I didn't know I had something so big and terrifying inside of me all this time. It said it wanted to use that, that seal for something, uh, and it said there was a tailed beast here too in this world. Do you know what that meant?"
"Uh."
"Does that mean there are two Nine-Tails here in this world now? Because of me?"
Sai pouted. "Well technically because of me. But let's worry about that later." That damned fox trying to escape again. Whatever it wanted or knew about his seal and other worlds, it was just another ploy to slip its cage somehow. He wondered if there might be a way to make it give him the information they needed to get back home.
"There's something else."
Naruko stopped walking and Sai did as well, looking at her.
"I think… I think it knows where the other one is."
–
Sai sat down and suggested Naruko do the same. She was jittering like a falling leaf. Asking the Nine Tails for aid was never a pleasant experience for him, and he didn't imagine it was for her either. They'd gone exactly to where the fox said they should. Be careful, it warned Naruko, they were entering uncharted waters. Another Nine-Tails would undoubtedly be as calculating as itself. Sai snickered; it must have been scary knowing there was another big, scary dog in the yard.
The fox must have been afraid, knowing there was a copy of it that was smarter.
Naruko clapped her face and lightly massaged herself, regaining her color. "I don't think I like this place."
He knew what she meant. They'd gotten released, sure, but the village was nothing like the one they'd left behind. Iruka… he tried to not think about it even as his hands balled at his sides. Kakashi was nowhere to be found though that was pretty typical. The old man was on the mountain again, still alive with no invasion or hint of Orochimaru ever stepping foot in the village. The Chunin Exams were months away. Ibiki had poked every hole possible in his recollection of events leading up to the Third's death.
Staying undetected was hard not because of the sheer number of people. Rather, the constant fear that a pair of Sharingan followed their every step. Naruko had to go unconscious for some time in order to communicate with the Nine-Tails so he carried her piggyback for a while. She'd fumbled out of his grip with a heated expression, surprised that she was being carried. Then they headed for the outskirts, walking until their sandals hurt and some parts of their surroundings became familiar hiding spots.
"It's the same village… but it's not," he said, agreeing with her. "Let's focus on the task at hand Naruko, like you said on the way, finding Naruto and making sure he's okay. Maybe help them find the real killer."
They were in an alley with a huge fence on one side and a park on the other. The dirt road was swept clean and just as empty as every other street they'd come across. Sai couldn't shake a feeling of nostalgia here for reasons he didn't grasp. Had he been here before?
"I want to help him. He must have been framed. I can't believe I, or he, would do something like this." He looked at Naruko, her face hard, her eyes forward. "I want to go home and make sure Iruka-sensei is alright, but the things happening in this Hidden Leaf, it's horrible." She glanced at him. "If you really are me from some other world, and we're strangers in this world, I can't leave myself behind. I just can't."
Sai took a long moment to really study his female counterpart. The same hair color. Her face was fixed with determination, her long, twintails of blonde hair lunged down to her shoulders and were tied with blue tiny ribbons. The same birthmarks on her face. Same taste in clothes.
"Ugh." Naruko grabbed her stomach and her face scrunched together. "I have to poop and I haven't eaten anything. Life is so unfair."
They were practically brother and sister.
"It really is," said a new voice behind them.
Sai and Naruko quickly turned around. They'd chosen the single bench next to the large wooden fence, facing out to the park. The peacefulness became violent. Giant, crinkled sections of wood, mangled and torn out of the ground. The other side of the fence looked as if a cannonball had gone through it.
The person standing on the other end, arms at his sides, shirt ruffled and whisker marks apparent, was Naruto Uzumaki. The Naruto Uzumaki of this world. A voice unlike theirs and clearly not his own, dripping with a barely restrained contempt. The hairs on Naruko's arm stood.
"You," Sai began.
"Me," it said back at him and for a moment Sai forgot they were talking to a human.
"The Nine-Tails," Naruko stammered.
The boy flashed his teeth. "In your flesh." It looked at Naruko first. "You have a piece, no, a copy of me inside you. How is that possible?" When they didn't respond he cursed. "Damn that 4th Hokage and his dying jutsu."
Sai's foot slid back. "So if you're really the Nine Tails then you've somehow possessed Naruto haven't you."
"...I see," the fox replied after a few moments, glancing at him. "So this brat somehow stumbled into an incredible new science, proving beyond a doubt that not only are parallel universes possible, but that they can be…"
Sai and Naruko swapped glances.
The fox continued, and this time its eyes fell on Naruko. "...your hypothesis is interesting. If the seal that the 4th placed on these two could harbor enough energy to form a passageway between worlds then it's possible…"
"Hey, stop muttering to yourself ya stupid fox," shouted Sai. "We're talking to you."
"...No, as you can see, my situation is a little more tenable. A bit of luck passed my way. The brat-"
"HEY!"
The fox stopped and regarded them at last. "Tailed beasts are having a conversation and it is interrupted by pathetic human whelps." It looked toward the sky so much that they couldn't see past its nose. "No matter. If other worlds exist then we can't all be trapped in these fragile human suits. There must exist possibilities where we are freed. In a multiverse, anything is possible."
"What the heck is going on? Who are you talking to?" Naruko asked.
"Listen brats," the fox lowered Naruto's head, eyes beaming red with a black line in the center, snarling as it spoke. "You and your fake Nine Tails have stumbled into an amazing discovery-"
"We know and we don't care," Sai yelled. "We want Naruto back. Give him back control of his body!"
The 9-Tails' laughed at them. If the past few days teaching someone hadn't been enough of a role reversal, Sai had switched places entirely with Iruka now, walking into a room with a little boy with no good intentions planned for him.
"Sorry, but your words don't apply to this boy. Naruto Uzumaki and I have entered a pact, stronger than anything the lousy 4th Hokage could ever have imagined!" Naruto stretched his arms and gave them a terrible, awful smile. Chakra bubbled around his skin. "We are one in body and soul, mind and spirit. My intellect and his life energy."
Sai held back a gasp. Naruko was petrified.
"When Naruto lost control of his anger I offered my assistance. I sensed his resolve weakening as you humans so often suffer, so I reached my hand over to him…" The fox raised Naruto's right hand mimicking the motion of a scissor. "...and I snatched his soul. I forced as much of my chakra into him as possible and it fused within him. He wanted to see the people who hurt him punished. I kept my end of the deal. Naruto got what he wanted."
The scissor snapped shut.
"Naruto Uzumaki is as much me as I am him. You're speaking to us both! The entity standing before you isn't Naruto or the Nine-Tails. My name is…"
–
Naruto Mugenden
Chapter 3
Kurama!
END