Summary: "Finally, I have my peace." Naruto was grateful he woke up in this new world where he wasn't hunted or hated just for existing. It was a peaceful life for him, and he did what he had always wanted: To stay away from trouble and live on the sidelines. But as always… Naruto Uzumaki would be dragged into something sooner or later. "Ah, come on!"
"Speech."
'Think.'
Technique/Magic
Events of the Past
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other Anime/Manga material used for this fanfiction.
Warning: English isn't my first language.
Naruto's eyes shot open, and he jumped up in his bed. He breathed heavily and fast. He had sweat all over his body. His eyes were wide open, focused on the one spot he looked at. Naruto stood there on his bed, ready for an attack… but this attack never came. It took him 2 minutes until he realized what he was actually doing. He blinked a few times and looked around, snapping out of some trance.
He gasped and held a hand over his heart. He didn't know what was going on right now. His heart was aching and beating like crazy. He gritted his teeth, focusing on his breathing. His breathing calmed down when he became master over his reflexes again. He closed his eyes, regulating his breath, and could slow down his heartbeat again.
After he got his body under control again, he opened his eyes and looked at his hands. 'What the fuck was that? I can't remember anything that happened in the dream…' thought Naruto. There was also his body… even when he got him under control again, his body craved for something. Naruto could feel how every muscle in his body twitched and shook. He looked outside and saw the night. He didn't hesitate and dressed up before walking out of his bedroom, taking a bottle of water with him.
He wore black pants and an orange T-shirt before placing both feet inside his black boots. He opened his apartment door and felt the cold air from the night. But it didn't affect him. His body was screaming at Naruto to do something. What exactly wasn't clear to Naruto. He stepped outside, locked the door, and channeled chakra into his legs, jumping far away. His eyes widened when he saw how much chakra he accidentally used and the distance he traveled with this one jump.
He landed on a roof and pushed himself further away, jumping the same distance. He didn't even know where he wanted to go. He had this feeling that his body would lead him to the location he had to be.
He felt how the cold air crashed into his face, his upper body, lower body, and arms. He didn't know why he wasn't affected by it. His entire perception of his surroundings was different than usual. He looked to the side, seeing a little bird trying to hide from a cat. He could feel something and turned his gaze toward another angle. He could see a group of 2 walking in the moonlight. They were holding hands, most likely a couple if Naruto had to guess. When he landed, he pushed himself further away and looked up. His ocean-blue eyes were mirroring the moon. The moon was almost full. From its looks, it should only be two or three nights away before the moon was full.
Naruto landed in the park a few minutes later. He looked around and was surrounded by trees. Before him was a building with some pillars around it. Naruto didn't know why, but he had the feeling that his body wanted to be there.
The most logical thing would be to train like usual, but he had a guess… Naruto raised both hands and placed them together in one of the 12 hand signs he remembered from his dreams. He also remembered the names of the 12 hand signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Bird, Dog, and Boar.
Naruto could feel how his chakra responded. He had trained to control his chakra like a maniac back in the elemental nations, and he even trained to control it from time to time in this world. He could feel exactly how it responded. It was an unfamiliar feeling. After he did the Ox sign, he made a Ram sign. He made three other hand signs and ended in a Tiger sign. He could still remember when Indra presented his creation before others. Those were the exact hand signs he did before he presented his hard work.
Naruto held his hand before him and opened his closed fist. When his hand was completely open, a yellow-orange flame burst to live for a second. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw what he had just done. 'That's…' His body was shaking, but not because it was craving something. Naruto had finally understood it.
It wasn't his body per se that craved action… it was his changed chakra. He still didn't know what had changed with his chakra. He could still control it like before, and the amount didn't change. The density of his chakra also didn't change.
So… what was it? He couldn't figure it out. But this wasn't important right now… he had a wide smile on his face, successfully creating something out of his chakra like a flame. When he was still back in the Konoha academy, he always wanted to use ninjutsu, which means you could create anything literally. From breathing out giant fireballs to creating water barriers to changing the landscape and other amazing things!
Naruto formed another hand sign and couldn't stop smiling when he felt how his chakra responded. It was just amazing how a change in the hand position could influence the flow of chakra. Naruto made two more hand signs and ended in the snake sign.
"Woah!" said Naruto when the ground shook slightly, and a little boulder appeared out of it. It wasn't high or anything like that. It was like a buried stone in the ground. When he untangled his hands, the stone sank back into the ground. Naruto grinned and thought, 'This is awesome!'
When Naruto started with his experimentation, it was 1 a.m., but now it was almost 6 a.m., and he would have to get ready for school soon. Even after everything he tried, he was still nowhere near exhausted. When he said he had almost infinite chakra, then that wasn't an exaggeration.
Naruto could proudly say that he made some discoveries over the five hours he spent trying different things, different hand sign series, and other thoughts regarding his chakra. He quickly understood that the tiger sign at the end was often linked to some fire he would create. The snake sign, on the other hand, was linked to earth-based things like moving the earth a little or lifting stones.
He also realized pretty quickly that he couldn't just try to make any hand signs after another without being cautious. After 20 minutes of trying out different things, he almost set himself on fire. He did a more extended hand sign series and ended in the tiger sign, letting fire burst out from under Naruto. It was only due to his sharpened reflexes, superhuman speed, and reaction time that he could dodge to the side. It was a lucky thing that he invented total concentration breathing. If he hadn't the physical boost from his total concentration breathing, he would have set himself on fire. It was the moment he calmed down and tried not to be like a little kid.
He analyzed everything he felt during those 20 minutes, what he discovered, and what he could do without killing himself. He noticed that some techniques he used during the 5 hours used up more chakra than others. He stuck to a little hand sign series, so the chakra used should normally be equal. He managed to create something with every element that existed. He even knew that there were five elements: fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind.
When he created a wind technique in which a gentle breeze began to blow around him, he used almost no chakra at all. It was at that moment that he had a flashback to the dream he couldn't remember at first.
In his dream, Ashura was training with his older brother Indra, and it was said that everyone was naturally drawn to one element. It was linked to the person's chakra. The person's chakra was naturally linked to one element. Naruto could only guess that his natural affinity was the wind. He found it ironic that his natural affinity was the wind, the element that was linked with liberty—something he had never had in his old life.
When he came back to his apartment to eat something, he thought about all the things he discovered. His chakra also calmed down. It seemed like it was satisfied with what Naruto did in those 5 hours.
'But it is strange… it only calmed down when I realized something like my wind affinity. It was like my chakra had its own subconscious and tried to make me understand those things by being restless… but this is impossible… right?' thought Naruto. He was standing in his kitchen and cooked something. He thought about it a little more while he cooked, ate, showered, and dressed up for school. When he wore his school uniform, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He raised his right hand in a flash and thought he had seen something like a round object on his hand.
'I knew it,' thought Naruto. He had seen it and reacted soon enough, raising his hand so he could get a better sight of it before the symbol on his palm vanished. It was like a sun. He got a headache when he saw an image of an older Ashura standing before his older brother. Both had weapons in their hands, facing each other. Most of the images aren't clear, but the one thing Naruto sees is the symbol of his palm. It was the same symbol Naruto had 20 seconds ago on his palm.
The image vanished again, and Naruto gasped, feeling a surge of energy running through his body. "Argh!" He cursed when he felt the pain for an entire minute. It was almost impossible to keep quiet, but he gripped his teeth and fought through the pain. Every muscle in his body tensed up when he felt how this energy spread through his body. It was like this energy was fusing with his chakra. When the pain went away, he fell to his knee, gasping for air. He couldn't breathe for the entire minute. He was on the ground, on all fours, and looked at the ground with sweat running down his forehead before falling onto the ground. He raised his right hand and saw it again… the sun symbol was back. He stood up while breathing in a lot of air to fill up his oxygen tanks.
'What the hell is this? First, my chakra felt different, and now this symbol appeared, which also Ashura had. Did the change in my chakra trigger this symbol?' thought Naruto. 'Have I now the same chakra as Ashura, or what the fuck is going on? Now that the symbol has appeared, everything is fine, like the pain I had just now never happened. I feel even better than usual… I really need to investigate this further after I was in school.' He opened the door and walked out. After he had closed and locked the door, he walked toward the school.
His thoughts were all about the things he had experienced and found out. When he came to school, he walked through the main entrance of the school building. He tried not to think about it during his time at school since he still needed to learn for the following exams. When he walked through the building, he saw a few students. He spoke with 2 of them while he walked to his class, and when he was in his classroom, he sat down and looked outside.
Naruto could see Basara, Yuki, and Mio walking together toward the school building. 'Seems like Tōjō already recovered,' thought Naruto. He looked at his right hand, which was closed to a fist. He didn't want anyone to see the new symbol he had on his palm. He felt that his chakra changed a little since he got this symbol on his palm. He opened his fist slightly and looked at the sun-shaped symbol on his right hand. He closed the hand again, looking outside.
He wished he knew what this was all about. Why did he have the same symbol as Ashura on his right palm? Why did he have these dreams? Why did his chakra change all of a sudden? He could only wait and hope that his dreams would answer those questions. This was the only way he saw it right now. Every piece of information he knew was from his dreams. The hand signs, the history of Ashura and his brother so far, the father of the two, the different things one could do with chakra, and so forth.
He looked at the door when Basara, Yuki, and Mio entered the classroom. Everyone was looking at them, and like usual, the boys glared at Basara. Naruto and Takigawa were the only boys in the class who didn't glare at Basara. Oh yeah, Takigawa was also in the classroom. He was already there when Naruto entered. He read a light novel the entire time. The title of the light novel was "Attack on Titan".
Naruto looked outside again. There were still a few minutes until Mr. Sakazaki would come to start the lesson. "Hello, Uzumaki," said Yuki. Naruto looked at Yuki and smiled at her like usual. "Morning, Nonaka."
Yuki smiled at him and sat down afterward, looking toward Basara. Naruto wanted to direct his gaze outside, but he saw how Basara looked at him. He looked at Basara and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged and looked outside. Nothing special happened until the first break. Naruto was on the roof during the break. He was lying there with his hands behind his back. He looked at the clouds and let his thoughts flow.
He smiled and closed his eyes, feeling content with how things turned out. He didn't know why he got this symbol on his palm, why his chakra changed a bit, or why he had those dreams. The only thing he knew was that it helped him in the long run. He wasn't sure yet what this symbol could do, but he felt that it wasn't just for show. He would find out sooner or later. The sun's rays were hitting his face, letting him feel the warm sensation only provided by the sun. The warmth someone felt when sun rays hit him was different than the warmth someone felt when he stood beside a fire. This warm sensation was always pleasant.
Naruto's ears twitched when he heard the door to the roof. He opened one eye, looking to the side where the door was. He closed his eyes again when he saw who walked on the roof. Not that it surprised him. He was sure they would come to the roof sooner or later.
"Uzumaki," said Basara.
"Mhm?" Naruto's eyes remained closed while his smile never left his expression. He lay there, completely at ease with everything. At least, this was how it looked like.
"Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to thank you for the warning you gave me the other day," said Basara.
"No problem. The boys in our class can be a little jealous," said Naruto. Well… a little would be an understatement. They were jealous as fuck.
Basara chuckled a little, seeing the joke in the statement. "I also wanted to speak with you about something else," said Basara.
"Help yourself," said Naruto. He was still lying there with his eyes closed. It was clear that he was in a position where he didn't want to move because it felt good to lay there with the warm sensation of the sun on his face.
"I am sorry, Uzumaki," said Yuki. Naruto knew Basara didn't come alone to the roof. Two other people came with him on the roof. Most likely Yuki and Mio.
Naruto's smile vanished, and he opened one eye. "Why are you apologizing, Nonaka? You did nothing wrong," said Naruto.
"I have broken the deal. I told the two of your Sacred Gear, I am sorry," said Yuki.
Naruto only looked at her with his one open eye. She could see the disappointment in his open eye. Naruto closed his eye and said, "I see."
"Wait a moment, Yuki-" Basara wanted to defend Yuki, but Naruto cut him off. "Stop it, Tōjō," said Naruto, rising into a sitting position. He stood up and opened both eyes. He had a stoic gaze and a completely different facial expression from the usual laid-back Naruto everyone knew. He normally smiled most of the time.
"I don't care why she broke the deal we made. The important fact is that she broke the deal. I was willing to show her my Sacred Gear, but in exchange, she would tell not a single soul of my abilities. I don't want to have anything to do with your problems or the entire situation you all are in," said Naruto. He looked Basara in the eyes before looking into Yuki's eyes.
"When there is something I despise, it's someone who breaks their promises. Promises are made not to be broken. It shows that you can't be trusted," said Naruto before walking past the two school idols and Basara.
"Oh yeah… there would be one last thing," said Naruto when he reached the door. "Don't try to pull me into something I have nothing to do with. Whatever it may be. If you ignore my warning and try it, expect a corresponding reaction from me." He walked into the school building, closing the door behind him.
Yuki looked on the ground. "Nonaka…" Mio looked at Yuki, worried. Even when both hated each other from the start, they were at the beginning of forming a relationship, or at least they wouldn't fight each other anymore.
"It's okay. I knew what I risked when I told you both of his abilities. It's my responsibility, and I will deal with it," said Yuki.
"Listen, Yuki," said Basara. Yuki looked up at Basara. "You only did this because you wanted to protect us from a possible danger. The fact is that we basically don't know anything about Naruto Uzumaki other than his usual behavior. Don't worry; we will manage to come clean somehow… it's the least we can do."
Yuki smiled at Basara and nodded. But she looked past him toward the door where Naruto vanished. Even when she smiled… she was deeply disappointed in herself. What Naruto said was true, and she didn't even know why, but his words struck her hard. It was something everyone should know.
A promise was something not meant to be broken, and yet many people didn't mind when someone broke a promise as long as there was a good reason. But when Naruto looked at her, she could see he was really disappointed. He told her to her face that he didn't care why she broke the promise. The fact alone that she broke a promise – something not meant to be broken was enough for him to look at her so harshly.
The way he said those words… "When there is something I despise, it's someone who breaks their promises. Promises are made not to be broken. It shows that you can't be trusted," said Naruto. It hit someone deep inside. If someone else had said this… she was sure it wouldn't have affected her so greatly. She saw it in the reaction from Basara and Mio. Both of them also were affected in ways normally thought impossible. Naruto had an effect on someone that couldn't be explained.
'Naruto…' thought Yuki.
Naruto sighed deeply. 'I should have known. Even in this world, you can't trust someone with so much personal information. I should have stayed away and ignored those four,' thought Naruto. He stopped when he thought about Basara, Mio and Yuki.
He had a good relationship with all three. He laughed with them multiple times and even did something after school with them. He shook his head and kept walking. He didn't want to stay in school for today.
He didn't even want to meet Chisato Hasegawa right now. He could tell she was on her way to him. He vanished from his spot and left the school with superhuman speed. He simply wanted to be left alone.
For him, a promise was what it was supposed to be and not how it was used in the modern era in this world. Promises were thrown out without thinking. They were broken without any form of hesitation, and everyone accepted it. But Naruto wasn't like the others. If he made a promise, he would do anything to hold it, even if it meant his death.
He thought he could trust Yuki, but it turned out this wasn't the case. His trust was broken, and he was shown yet again why he never trusted anyone in his last life. Maybe he was too good-natured or something else, but one thing was for sure. If anyone wanted his trust back, they would need to earn it.
He appeared outside of Tokyo and narrowed his eyes. He looked to the side, seeing some monster. It looked like a fusion of a human and a spider. The monster was chasing a little cat. Naruto growled in frustration when he couldn't ignore the situation.
"Narukami!" said Naruto. Narukami appeared after lightning surrounded Naruto and flew toward Naruto's left hand. The lightning transformed into Narukami, and Naruto didn't hesitate. He tensed his legs while he simultaneously channeled lightning energy into Narukami's sheath. He charged forth, leaving behind some sparks of lighting on the ground. The monster didn't even know what happened before his head was severed from his body. Naruto appeared behind the monster while sheathing Narukami again. Naruto looked over his shoulder and looked at the cat. He knew this wasn't a normal cat.
"Stay away from trouble, and don't follow me. If you do, you will have the same fate as this monster," said Naruto before yellow lightning surrounded him. He vanished in a yellow flash, leaving behind some sparks of lightning on the ground.
When Naruto appeared before his door, Narukami spoke to him. "Do you want to talk?" asked Narukami. Naruto remained silent while he opened his door. When he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, he said, "What is there to talk? You saw everything, and you know what I think about breaking a promise."
"Yuki Nonaka decided to break her promise to me. She had the choice and chose to break the promise; I won't say anything more about this topic," said Naruto while he walked toward his couch. He turned on the TV and began watching an anime to distract himself.
"As you wish. I will let you alone for now," said Narukami before the mental link ended. Naruto remained silent and continued watching.
"Interesting," said a male voice. The man was in a fancy-looking master bedroom. He was sitting on a king-size bed and held a glass of wine in his right hand while he fondled the breast of a young woman with his left hand. The young woman had horns on her head, signaling that she was a young female devil. The man also had two horns sticking out of his head. It was clear this person was a devil, a strong one at that.
The devil was a tall man who wore a red jacket with yellow-padded shoulders. He had pointy ears, white hair with a matching beard, and purple eyes. "I never thought I would see the forgotten Sacred Gear again," said the devil.
Before him was a magic-created transmission. It showed how Naruto killed the fallen angel with six wings with just one slash attack and simultaneously destroyed the walls around him. The person who created the transmission was a female devil.
The female devil was a tall, tanned-skinned, and white-haired young woman with a slim yet shapely figure and gold-green eyes. She had a rabbit tail and rabbit-ear-shaped horns. "Yes, lord Zolgear. This is Naruto Uzumaki, a human who goes to the same school as Mio Naruse," said the female devil.
"I see. This is indeed very interesting," said Zolgear while he chuckled. "I always wondered what happened with Narukami, the sword of the thunder god. It seems I must change my plans a bit to get the power of Mio Naruse and the Sacred Gear, which was lost for thousands of years."
"Go and observe Naruto Uzumaki and let Basara Tōjō in the hands of Lars, Zest. Basara Tōjō hasn't shown any significant powers so far. Mio Naruse is in safe hands until we make our move," said Zolgear, taking a sip from his wine glass.
"As you command, lord Zolgear," said Zest. The magical transmission ended, and she bowed, vanishing in a teleportation circle. Zolgear smirked while he took another sip, thinking how much power he would hold in the future. He would rule over the demon lord faction very soon.
"I look forward to meeting you in person, Naruto Uzumaki," said Zolgear while he focused his attention on the young female devil at his side. "You don't know how much I look forward to it." He placed the wine glass to the side and began treating his guest. The moans of the young female devil could be heard until she screamed in pleasure.
Naruto looked around. He knew he was dreaming again. It wasn't like before when he watched through the eyes of Ashura. He was standing in some forest with his own body and could move his body as he wished.
He heard a voice behind him. "Naruto Uzumaki," said a familiar voice. Naruto turned around and saw an adult version of Ashura standing there, smiling at Naruto.
"Ashura?" asked Naruto.
Ashura walked forward and stopped a meter before him. He held his hand out where the sun symbol was on. Naruto looked at his palm and afterward at Ashura.
"Lay your hand on mine. You will understand everything," said Ashura. Naruto didn't hesitate and put his hand with the same sun symbol on his palm on Ashura's hand. Naruto's eyes widened when everything around him changed. Ashura and Naruto were now standing in some void where two symbols were shining on the horizon. There was a sun and a half moon. Or at least Naruto thought it was a Sun.
He could feel something strange when he looked at the half-moon. The scenery changed again, and Naruto got wide-eyed when he recognized the scenery. This place was definitely Konoha, or, more like, Konoha. The massive stone formation and this forest were too familiar with Naruto. But instead of Konoha, there was only forest before the stone formation. There were no Hokage faces hammered into the stone and no village—only stone and trees.
"Why are you showing me this?" asked Naruto. He looked Ashura into his eyes, looking for answers. "Why did you give me this power? What do you want?"
Ashura closed the hand completely around Naruto and smiled. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw unknown memories from someone who looked exactly like him. It was like Naruto was looking at the memories from another version of himself. The most significant difference was that the version he saw of himself in the memories became a Genin and made friends.
He saw the entire life of the person in a few seconds, up to the point where he also got this symbol from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. Naruto gasped when the memories finished. It was very taxing for the brain to process so much information.
"Was this another version of myself? The version who made it and didn't die?" asked Naruto.
"Yes. There exists not only the dimension we see; multiple dimensions exist. Every dimension is somewhat the same but has differences. But there is one important fact: you were supposed to stop the person you saw at the end of the memories… my grandmother. You were the child of the prophecy, meant to save the world, but someone played god and changed the supposed outcome of your story. No matter which dimension, every version of yourself saved the world," said Ashura.
"There are versions where you are a woman, but this wouldn't change the outcome. It didn't even have to do with fate or destiny. It's just how you are. No matter which version of yourself, you are always the same. Someone who brings out the best in other people, someone who never gives up, and someone who does everything to keep his promises. Those are the qualities of a hero," said Ashura.
Naruto furrowed with his eyebrows, hearing all this. "This is all good, but this doesn't answer my questions. I am no longer in the elemental nations since I died there. I am in a new world without the danger of your grandmother. So… why did you show yourself, and why did you give me this power?" asked Naruto. He understood now what this symbol was on his right palm. He knew what he could do with it; he saw the other version of himself using this power.
He wanted to open his mouth, but a loud bang was heard in the distance. Ashura looked apologetic at Naruto. "I am sorry, but my time has come. I gave you everything I could. The rest is up to you. I know you will use this power for something good. After all, you are a hero," said Ashura while he slowly began to fade away.
"Hey, wait!" said Naruto. "I still have so many questions!"
Naruto's eyes shot open when the dream ended. He raised himself into a sitting position, remembering everything Ashura told him and showed him.
…
He looked at his right palm. 'No… you were wrong. Maybe every other version of myself is a hero… but not me,' thought Naruto.