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 opened his eyes and looked blank. He remembered his weird dream about Konoha, in which he met a woman entirely concealed by a black hooded cloak. He knew he had never met this woman before, not in this life or Konoha.

The only female humans he ever had contact with in Konoha were his classmates, but they didn't even look at him while he was at the academy. 'What did the woman mean that she will have me one day? I don't get it, and besides, am I an object in her eyes?' thought Naruto, annoyed. It was definitely not a woman from the new world where he now lived.

After all, the woman said something about Naruto hiding, even when he wasn't. It was true that he tried to remain undetected in this new world, but the way the woman said it was like Naruto tried to hide from this one woman, but he didn't even know her.

Then, there was this surge of power he felt inside him all of a sudden. A power full of hatred… a hatred so endless like a bottomless ocean. It took all his willpower in his dream not to get consumed by this bottomless hatred.

Naruto thought he felt this bottomless hatred before, but he couldn't remember from where. He shrugged and stood up, stretching once before walking out of his bedroom. He turned left to walk toward his bathroom. When he stepped into the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror. He got wide eyes when he saw something that wasn't supposed to be there.

He looked down to his stomach. 'Impossible,' thought Naruto. He couldn't believe it. No fucking way. This had to be a freaking joke. 'Why… WHY?' Naruto nearly freaked out when he saw the thing that brought him many nightmares in his past life.

On his stomach was a black seal visible with a spiral in the middle, occupied by a few spikes around it. This was the seal that held the Kyūbi (Nine Tails) at bay when Naruto was still in Konoha. This was the reason why everyone hated him. The seal and the fucking beast that was sealed inside his stomach.

'Why is this there? I lost it when the Kyūbi got sucked out of my body! Why is this cursed seal on my stomach again?' thought Naruto. He couldn't believe it. The thing with Ashura was one thing, but he could deal with a new power that once had the ancestor of all Shinobi. Naruto was okay with it since this power was his own, so to speak, and it didn't bring him any disadvantages, but if his fear were really true… then he would have either the Kyūbi inside him again or something different.

He took some deep breaths and calmed down. He looked at the seal for a while and touched it with his left hand. He didn't feel any reaction. He looked at his right palm, where the sun-shaped symbol was, and remained silent.

He laid his open palm on the seal and waited.

...

Nothing happened, and Naruto was about to sigh when he got wide eyes. "Nrgh!" His body felt like he was burning from the inside out. He took his palm away from the seal and concentrated on his breathing. After one minute, his body calmed down, and he looked into the mirror.

"!"

His whisker marks… looked thicker than before and a little more feral-looking. He raised his hand and touched them. They felt like before, but his once-thin lines were now a little thicker and looked more real than before, like the whiskers of a real fox.

Naruto lowered his hand and looked at the seal on his stomach again. He furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't understand what was going on. Why was all this shit happening to him? He thought he would have been entirely freed from his old life. First, he had dreams of Ashura and his older brother; then, he got the yang seal from Ashura in the shape of a sun on his right palm.

Now, he dreamed about Konoha again. What was when he woke up? The fucking seal of his past life appeared again. The seal that brought him every negative situation he ever faced in Konoha – basically his entire life.

Just why?

Naruto sighed and showered to cool his head. He slowly got a headache, and thinking about it was a waste of time right now. He couldn't understand it anyway without an explanation from someone who knew what was going on.

Naruto sighed when the cold water ran over his body. His body shivered a little, but Naruto was used to cold water since he never had warm water in Konoha. He didn't have a shower in his little wooden hut on the outskirts of Konoha. He had to wash himself in a cold river that was near his home. He got so used to it that it was doing nothing to him.

Naruto opened both eyes while he looked down. He didn't think about something specific, enjoying the cold water. He simply had a feeling that he didn't like. Like everything he has achieved so far, living in peace was for nothing. He got more and more confused the more he dreamed about and the more changes he undertook. First Ashura and now the Kyūbi… what would be next?

"I count on you guys," said Naruto. He was in an abandoned building a little outside of Tokyo. He wanted to use his newly acquired Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) as soon as possible. It was an old factory where metal was formerly used. The entire factory was gigantic. There was enough place for Naruto to create as many clones as he wanted. Before him, there were a few hundred clones, ready to train for Naruto while he walked to school.

He was away from school for three days, and he knew he couldn't avoid meeting Tōjō, Naruse, and Nonaka again. Even when he wanted to avoid them, he couldn't run away from those three. The longer he didn't meet them, the more attention they would pay to him since they would ask where he was all this time.

He didn't know if Mio had said anything about what had happened in the park. He simply hoped she didn't. It would be not very pleasant. All the questions about why he was so strong, etc., would be annoying. He simply wanted to have a normal school day today after everything he had experienced in the last few days.

While Naruto walked through the streets, he looked toward the sky. He smiled when he felt the warm sensation of the sun on his face. He didn't know why, but the sun's rays felt slightly different today but still pleasant. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warm sensation.

While he walked through the streets, he considered how he should deal with the situation at school. If nothing happened, he would be happy, but he was sure that something would happen. He was sure that Takigawa also knew about his Sacred Gear and would sooner or later make a move. He would also have to deal with that.

But first of all, he had to visit a certain school nurse since he was too confused about everything going on. He promised her if he needed help or advice, he would come to her. Since he didn't know what he should do about this entire shit, he had to visit her.

Even when he didn't show it, he looked forward to it. Meeting Chisato Hasegawa always had a calming effect on him, and the longer he was with her, the better he felt.

When Naruto entered the school grounds, a few boys were looking at him. Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw the looks. 'What's with them? It's because a few days ago Naruse paid so much attention to me?' thought Naruto, confused. He shrugged and kept walking, ignoring the stares.

Naruto held his school bag over his shoulder when he walked into class. When he opened the sliding door of the class, the entire classroom looked at him—at least the students who were already there. A few were still missing. Under them were Basara, Yuki, Mio, and Takigawa. Naruto was glad he was here before those four people.

He sat down on his seat and looked outside. He smiled when he saw some birds flying over the school, circling each other. It was a beautiful show to see from Naruto's perspective at the window. He could see some students in the schoolyard laughing together, smiling, and talking.

Naruto's smile dropped slightly when he got a flashback from his past life. He saw himself in the middle of the street, surrounded by many adults. All those adults laughed at Naruto and scolded him. He shook his head, trying to banish those thoughts out of his head.

He felt how something inside him reacted to his negative emotions. Naruto bit his tongue, annoyed. He took a deep breath and calmed down. He looked toward the sky and admired the clouds.

He could hear a few people walking into the classroom. He didn't look, but he could say it was Basara, Mio, and Yuki. Just from the sounds of the steps, he could tell those three were walking to their usual seats.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Yuki standing beside her table. Naruto didn't look at her, and she looked at the ground, sitting down without greeting him like usual. He ignored the stares from his classmates and continued with his cloud-watching.

To Naruto's surprise, everyone seemed to keep a distance from him. At least the four people he tried to avoid. He wouldn't complain about the situation and hoped this could be a typical school day like every other before the entire shit started.

He smiled while he looked toward Mr. Sakazaki and listened to his lesson. If everything turned out as he hoped, then he would meet with Ms. Hasegawa during the first break and talk with her about his problems, and the rest of his time in school today would be peaceful. But he would wait and see.

When the first two lessons were over, Naruto stood up and walked past Yuki. When he turned the corner to walk toward the door of the classroom, he heard his name. "Hey, Uzumaki!" Naruto stopped and looked toward the last row. Takigawa was walking past Basara and Mio.

"Want to eat together this break?" asked Takigawa with an innocent smile.

Naruto smiled back innocently. "Sorry, I already have plans to meet with someone. Another time, Takigawa," said Naruto.

"Too bad, oh well," said Takigawa, shrugging. "See you after the break."

"Yeah, see you after the break," said Naruto, walking out of the classroom. He left Takigawa behind and sighed. 'It was clear he would speak to me. I knew he knew about my Sacred Gear,' thought Naruto. He opened his closed right hand and looked at the yang seal he got from Ashura. He didn't know why, but he guessed that the appearance of the seal on his stomach had to do with the yang seal on his right palm.

Yang chakra made it possible to give non-living things a form and life. Since chakra itself was also life, if someone would call it that, he could think that because of the yang seal on his palm, something inside him appeared. If he now had the fucking fox inside him again or something else, he was sure something would wait for him if he ever came across his subconscious again. He didn't like the thought, but he would have to deal with it as always.

He would never break. He didn't break in Konoha, and his will wouldn't break in this world. No matter what he would have to deal with. Naruto stood now before the infirmary and knocked twice. He waited for a minute and nothing.

'Let's see if she is helping someone else right now,' thought Naruto. 'If it is the case, then I will come in the second break back.' He opened the sliding door slightly and raised both eyebrows.

'Well… that is unexpected,' thought Naruto, surprised. 'Wasn't Tōjō still in the classroom when I left?' Naruto wasn't sure, but since Chisato Hasegawa was… let's say, busy with Basara, Naruto closed the sliding door again and walked away from the Infirmary.

Seeing Basara making out with the school nurse was something Naruto didn't expect. He knew that Chisato Hasegawa had some connection with Basara. The first time she really talked to Naruto, she asked him about Basara's condition after the fight he had with Takigawa. It was clear that Chisato and Basara had some kind of relationship.

Naruto just didn't think the relationship would go this deep. 'To be honest, I shouldn't be surprised. Basara is the main protagonist of his own real Harem story. This would be the most logical thing to happen. Every hot woman/girl fell in love with the male main protagonist. It was only a question of time before those two would get together like this,' thought Naruto.

When Naruto turned the corner, he almost bumped into Mio and Yuki. "Oh, sorry, ladies. I was thinking and didn't watch where I was going," said Naruto with an apologetic smile.

"N-no! We should have watched where we were going!" said Yuki in a nervous voice.

"Yes, sorry… we were talking and didn't look," said Mio.

"Don't worry about that. See you both in the classroom again," said Naruto with a smile, walking past the two idols. Mio turned around and asked, "Uzumaki, have you seen Basara?"

Naruto stopped and said without thinking, "Yeah, in the infirmary." He stopped and got a little pale. 'Shit!' He just realized he did something completely stupid.

"Uhm… Uzumaki, is everything okay?" asked Mio. She could see that even when he stood with his back to them, he had gone pale.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Hahaha! I must go; someone is waiting for me; see you both!" said Naruto before walking away with a fastened pace.

Yuki and Mio were watching after Naruto, confused. "What was that?" asked Yuki. This wasn't like Naruto at all. This reaction was very suspicious.

"I don't know, but let's go to the infirmary," said Mio. Yuki nodded but glanced after Naruto one more time before following Mio.

Yuki was slightly behind Mio and couldn't see the face Mio was making. Her lips were trembling, and her eyes were unfocused. Mio wanted to go after Naruto, but she stopped herself right on the spot. It would do her no good. The best thing was to keep her distance from him.

He wanted to stay away from the problems of others, so she did the right thing… even when she wanted to do more with him. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him. Why were his eyes so full of pain and darkness when she talked with him back then?

She shook her head. 'Stop it! He doesn't want to have anything to do with us… just let it go, Mio,' thought Mio.

Naruto walked up the stairs and sighed deeply. 'I hope Tōjō and Ms. Hasegawa are done with their make-out session before the two girls arrive there. This would be for the best,' thought Naruto. He opened the door to the roof and walked outside. He lay down and clapped his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. He enjoyed the warm sensation on his face like usual for the rest of the break without anyone coming to the roof.

So far… today was a pretty good day when it came to school. The event with Basara and Chisato was surprising, but besides that, everything was almost like before the entire bullshit started. He smiled, thinking today could really be a good day.

'When I remember correctly, then tomorrow is the full moon. Maybe I will stay awake a little longer and look at the full moon tomorrow,' thought Naruto.

When the break was over, he walked back inside and went to his classroom. He sat down on his seat and watched the outside, waiting for Mr. Sakazaki and the other students to return to the classroom.

He looked slightly at the sliding door when Basara walked inside with Mio and Yuki. 'Well… shit. I fucked up,' thought Naruto. It was clear that Mio and Yuki saw something she shouldn't have. Mio was red in the face and not from embarrassment. It was clear that she was mad at Basara when Naruto heard the way he tried to speak with her. She ignored him completely.

Yuki had a stoic expression, but when someone looked at her right hand, someone would see that she wasn't in a good mood. Her right hand was formed into a fist, and her formed fist trembled.

Naruto looked outside, hoping the power of the main protagonist would help Basara fix this situation… even when Naruto triggered it. Normally, those two would have never looked in the infirmary for Basara. Because Naruto told them Basara was there, they went there and discovered the relationship between Basara and Chisato.

At least, that was what Naruto was thinking. By some miracle, both could also be mad at him because of something else.

When Yuki sat down before Naruto, she looked at him. Naruto was watching some birds fly over the school. Before he could see it, she turned around and looked forward because the teacher came in.

Naruto also looked forward and concentrated on the next lesson. The tension in the classroom was a little high, but it was generally peaceful until the next break. When the next break started, Naruto walked outside and was on his way to the infirmary. He promised Ms. Hasegawa he would visit her if he needed advice or help. Even if he was happy that the school day went smoothly until now, he still had questions and doubts, and he needed help.

When he was before the door of the infirmary for the second time that day, he could hear Chisato Hasegawa's voice. "Come in." Naruto opened the sliding door and walked inside, closing the sliding door.

He bowed slightly, "Hello, Ms. Hasegawa. I am sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to talk to you," said Naruto.

"Why don't you sit down, Uzumaki?" asked Chisato.

Naruto did as he was told and sat down next to Chisato. "Before anything else, I wanted to apologize. I saw you and Tōjō and told the girls, besides my knowledge, what you two were doing here that Tōjō was here. I hope I didn't cause any trouble for you, Ms. Hasegawa."

"Everything is alright. Nonaka and Naruse are a little mad because of something else; don't worry," said Chisato.

Naruto sighed in relief. "I am glad. I don't want to interfere with Tōjō's story," said Naruto, looking toward the beds in the infirmary.

Chisato remained silent and looked at Naruto closely. Her eyes were fixated on his upper body or, more specifically, his stomach. "It seems like you got something you once lost," said Chisato.

Naruto chuckled and looked at this higher being who looked like a goddess in human form. "Yes. I knew you would know what was going on with me without me even telling you about it," said Naruto. He raised his blazer and shirt, revealing the seal on his stomach.

"This is a seal that once held a powerful beast at bay. I was its container and was used to make sure it wouldn't escape its prison and go on a rampage," said Naruto. Naruto looked down and frowned slightly. He looked up into Chisato's green eyes.

"I don't know what I should do about this entire situation," said Naruto while he let loose of his blazer and shirt, hiding his seal again. "It feels like some kind of beast or power is inside me again… but I am not sure if it's alive or not. I don't even know if I want to know what is going on with me."

Chisato remained silent and listened to Naruto's struggle. "This power or beast… or whatever it is triggers a lot of negative memories and emotions. Every time I feel this power, my entire body gets filled with bottomless hatred and rage. I always kept myself together, but I feared I could waver once and get consumed completely. I don't want to lose myself, and I don't want to remember my past life."

"I am not sure why I tell you this right now, but I feel like you always know what is going on with me. I think you also know that I am not originally from this world. I promised I would come back if I needed help and now I need help. I just don't know what to do with this situation," said Naruto, supporting his head with his hands.

Now he did it… he told someone from this world that he was from another world. He never thought he would do it, but somehow… he felt like a weight got lifted off his body. He had wide eyes when he felt two arms closing around his head. He was momentarily looking at the ground. The next thing he knew was that his head was pressed into the chest of Chisato Hasegawa.

"I am glad you came to me, Uzumaki," said Chisato while she stroked Naruto's spiky blond hair. "You are right; I know of your life from the elemental nations and also from the way the villagers were treating you."

Naruto chuckled a little, having already thought so. He was being penetrated by a warm feeling that flowed from Chisato's body into Naruto's. It was a comforting feeling he didn't remember. He felt many different kinds of warm feelings, but the feeling Naruto felt right now was something completely different.

"Do you know what next step you need to take?" asked Chisato while she continued stroking Naruto's hair.

Naruto remained silent and thought about this. "Yeah. I need to train to become stronger. If I want to hold on to my peaceful life in this school and world, I need to be strong enough to deal with everything that may come," said Naruto.

"Something else?" asked Chisato.

…

"I need to confront the power. Running away from it didn't make my situation better," said Naruto.

Chisato smiled and said, "Good. Two of three steps are clear before your mind."

Naruto was confused and sat up straight, leaving her warm embrace. "There is a third step?" asked Naruto.

"You need to discover the truth about the woman you saw in your dream," said Chisato. Naruto's eyes widened. He completely forgot about this woman for a second. "You never met this woman, but she clearly knows who you are. But did you ever question yourself about whether you are actually the person she wants to find or just one version of the person she wants to find?"

"Wait a second! Do you mean the woman I dreamed about actually wants to find another version of myself? Like a version of myself from another dimension?" asked Naruto.

"Think about it, and you will see the answer clearly before your mind," said Chisato. Naruto remained silent and closed his eyes. He was sure that he had never seen this woman before and already had something like that in mind… but it was too easy for him. Like this solution must be false since this logical result in Naruto's mind was too simple for what he went through in the last days.

He opened his eyes and said, "This is the only solution I can think about."

"So… what do you want to do now?" asked Chisato.

"Enjoying the rest of the school day," said Naruto with a smile. His smile was a little brighter than before after he talked with Chisato. Even when he found the relationship between her and Basara strange, he was still thankful to her and happy he talked with her. He felt better again even when she didn't do much, even when her hug and warm embrace weren't something a school nurse would do, especially not after what the school nurse did with another student just 2 hours ago. He was grateful to the woman who always helped him so far and had the right advice.

"Then enjoy the rest of the break. Come and visit me again in the next few days," said Chisato. "I would like to hear how you are doing."

Naruto nodded and said, "I promise. I will visit you again in the next few days."