16
Author's Note:
(Edited on 01/16/2024): After careful consideration, I have removed the pilot for this fanfiction since the more I look at it, the more out of place it appears. So I decided to combine some of its elements into future arcs for my story.)
First things first. Thank you everyone for taking a chance with my work. I hope you all continue to follow my story as I improve. With that out of the way, I need to address the ages of characters. I know that SF characters have canon birthdates, but from what I've researched, most of the fanbase is divided on their actual ages. So, for simplicity, I will be giving them the ages that I THINK best suits their appearances in the game (SF 6 World Tour).
I understand that some characters are older than they appear, and that it may contradict the existing timeline, but for this fanfiction only, I will be adjusting their ages. So, this is your official warning. I am seeing this story as a stand-alone. The timeline won't affect their age. Since I will follow the World Tour storyline, I'll be keeping their experiences the same. The only thing that I am changing is their age.
With that being said, here are the ages for the characters in THIS story When Naruto's journey begins:
Rashid:20 Cammy:24 Lily:17 Zangief:48 JP:65 Marisa:37
Manon:29 Dee Jay:40 E. Honda:47 Dhalsim:70 Blanka:40 Ken:34
Juri:24 Kimberly:21 Guile:46 Chun Li:30 Jamie:23 Luke:23
Ryu:35 Li Fen:16-17 Naruto:21 Bosch:21
Now that this is out of the way, enjoy this next chapter! ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is associated with Naruto, or Street Fighter. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto and Capcom respectively. Other than my OC's, all rights and characters/special appearances belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 1: A Whole New World
Thousands of Years Ago
In Atmosphere:
"You want me to leave you both behind!". Hinata at first seemed confused, but then realized what Naruto was implying.
"N-No, I can't leave you behind, there has to be another way". Tears that she once wiped away were now returning.
Naruto smiles softly at her and pulls her into a hug.
"I'm sorry Hinata, but I can't risk your life or the others if my plan fails from containing the blast. This is the only way for you and the others to get back safely. Don't worry about leaving the room, I placed a marker on Shikamaru so you will meet up with him. Once you gather all of them, including your sister, throw this specialized Kunai. I made it so that I can remotely send people from one of these markers to the other. Once that happens, you must find Kakashi and tell them that the mission was a success". Naruto states handing her the two Kunai and preparing the technique.
Hinata looks back at his face, specifically his eyes. There filled with confidence, determination, and love. Love for his home and for her. With her hands shaking, she grabs them and says what's on her mind.
"N-Naruto-kun, p-promise me that you will return, safe and sound". Her lavender eyes looked straight into his eyes, pleading him to respond.
Naruto closes his eyes as he smiles back, "I promise that I will make it back to earth". With his eyes still closed he stated what she wanted to hear.
Not entirely convinced, Hinata stares at his face, eyes still closed, and decides to make her move.
Her slender hand moves up to caress his cheek causing him to stop smiling and open his eyes again. "Hinata, what ar-". She leans forwards, and their lips connected. It was an innocent kiss, but it was full of passion, love, and warmth. She poured all of her feelings into it. She wanted Naruto to know what he meant to her.
Naruto froze. Is this what it feels like to have a partner, who loves you back, and to share their love with? He leaned into the kiss, but kept his eyes fixated on her teary, beautiful lavender half-lidded ones. After some seconds, Hinata ended the kiss.
"I'll be waiting for you at home". She holds one of the Kunai out for him to activate the technique. Naruto stares at the kunai, then places his hand on it. "I will Hinata-chan, I'll see you soon." Before throwing Activating the technique, he places something in her hand right as she disappears. The last thing he sees is her soft, sweet smile, with a healthy blush on her cheeks.
Outer Atmosphere, Earth, 2005, January
As the Millenniums come and go, so do the landmasses. Continents begin to shift as seas dry up, oceans grow in size, and land spreads out. The once great Elemental Nations disappear as new landmasses take shape. As these landmasses change, so do the civilizations that rule over the land.
The shinobi era has gone down as merely a myth to modern day historians. Afterall, who can imagine humans that were capable of destroying mountains, changing the weather, or even destroying part of the moon. Ha. Sounds more like a fairytale than anything else to them.
Many still have questions though. After all, the moon was once whole according to scientists. Many simply theorize an earthquake, or perhaps an asteroid slamming into the moon caused its change. Whatever the cause, the most common solutions revolve around scientific theories and known phenomena.
If only they knew.
Be that as it may, the ancient rubble of the moon still exists, encircling the earth, adding to the beauty of the night sky when light bounces off the rocks. These rocks have been collected and studied to see if their story can be revealed. With so many pieces, scientists were spoiled for choice.
However, one of these rocks looks rather unique. The first thing that is noticed about this piece of stone, is the green gem attached to it. Once taking a closer look, the stone appears to look more like a statue.
A statue of a man to be more specific.
It's extremely detailed, down to the individual strands of hair on its head. The statue looks so life-like. The face, clearly showing the last expression of the man. Its eyes, while made of rock, depicts clear emotion. The hands, feet, ears, and some more parts of the human anatomy that are so difficult to chisel appear so accurate.
This was not made by a human. How could it? it's too perfect.
As it harmlessly floats amongst the rest of the rubble, it gets hit by another rock. This caused a chained reaction. After getting hit, the statues gets knocked into other pieces of rock, one particular hit, caused the statue to descend towards the blue planet below.
The remarkable statue now resembles a fireball as it starts to tear through Earth's atmosphere. Its destination, whether it be fate, or pure luck, contains the last remnants of an era long since forgotten.
The world as we now know it, is about to be shaken to its very core.
Japan, Near Toyama:
Japan, to many, seems to be a densely populated series of Islands. Where some of the most unique and ancient forms of culture still exist. Many assume that the country is packed with people. They aren't wrong. While some parts of Japan are heavily populated, there are some places that appear almost abandoned.
These villages, where once the population was average, slowly decreased as labor became more available in the big cities. These "Ghost Towns" are now home to such small populations that many deem them abandoned.
In one of these villages, lives an elderly man. Dressed in a formal dark blue and white kimono, he continues on his nightly stroll. Many don't know his full name, most simply refer to him as Yoshi. His grey hair is held into a bun, an x-shaped scar can be seen over his right eye. The eye in particular appears foggy, with no iris visible.
As he continued to walk. He continues to look at the night sky. Today in particular, the rocks and stars seem to be dancing with each other. As he continued to look, he spots … something falling from the sky.
At first it appears small, like a moving star. However, Yoshi notices that it appears to be getting bigger and closer to him. He sees a fiery ball headed straight for him.
Next thing he knew, this meteor passed over his head, landing further up the trail he was on. It was so close to him that he felt the heat radiate off the falling rock.
After recovering from the close call, he adjusts his kimono, and cleans off the dust off of his sleeves.
Well, this could be interesting.
As a single elderly male, living in a small, populated village, it was understandable to have thoughts like this. Perhaps, some of the local scientist/geologists would pay a decent sum of money for fallen debris. With that in mind, since it was also on the way home, he continued towards where the meteor crashed landed.
After a few minutes, he sees a path of destroyed trees. Presumably, getting destroyed as the meteor flew by. It was a little off the beaten path, nothing a man of his experience can handle. As he continues to walk, he sees a decently large crater appear before him that has smoke coming out of it.
It wasn't terribly steep, easy enough for him to make his way down. As Yoshi got closer, he does his best to fight through the smoke coming off the potential find, he comes to realize that it wasn't any particular rock, it was something that was possibly worth more.
There implanted in the dirt, was a fully intact, highly detailed statue of a young man. All things considered; it was beautiful. So much detail was present in it. The spiky hair, the individual fingers and toes, the ears, and even the face. It was so life-like it's impossible to think any human could've carved it.
However, what caught his eye more than anything else, has got to be the biggest gem he has ever seen firmly placed at the center of the statue's chest.
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure I'm looking at a perfectly cut Emerald. At its size, and what its on, this would be worth a fortune.
Soon, the cold winter air started to cool off the statue, allowing Yoshi to get closer. The Emerald gem looked firmly attached to the statue.
Not a problem.
Yoshi placed his palm on the gem, covering it in Chi. Being a formal champion of martial arts, using Chi became a staple in his techniques. With the Chi he channel, he plans to cut out the gem, without damaging the statue, take it downtown in the morning, then sell both the gem and the statue to the highest bidder.
"Perhaps now I can pay for a nice present for my so-". He couldn't finish his statement as the gem began to glow. Then a pulse of energy knocked the man back landing on his rear and back.
After recovering from getting the wind knocked out of him, he sees the statue beginning to form cracks. As more cracks appear, the same green gem continued to release energy and glow brighter by the second. After a few more pulses, the gem got so bright it forced Yoshi to look away.
Suddenly, a pillar of green energy shot out of the statue, engulfing it until it too was covered in its blinding light. This same pillar of energy pierced the clouds, almost as if the heavens themselves were preparing to introduce something grand.
Then, all of the light and energy disappeared. Yoshi, now being able to open his eye, let out an audible gasp.
What was once a statue of a young man, is now replaced by the same young man. Only he appears organic.
The spiky hair is now shown to be a unique shade of blonde, his skin a light peach color, and what he thought were cracks on the cheeks turned out to be whisker like scars on his young face.
His eyes are closed, preventing Yoshi from seeing them. However, he noticed the state of the young man's clothes. Or lack thereof.
His black shirt is torn open revealing an equal torn mesh shirt. His orange pants has one of its legs torn apart, revealing everything from the shin down. All parts of his clothing show signs of burns and tears.
The only parts of the man's outfit that appear fully intact was his headband, with a metal plate that is only slightly dented, his open-toe sandals, and the once gemstone, now a green necklace that is in the shape/size of a pen cap.
After evaluating the situation, he needs to decide what to do.
Oh Kami, was this man turned to stone? How? Why? What do I do now? Yoshi began to try and figure out the next possible steps. Getting closer to the young man, he places his hand on the exposed chest of the young man. He was cold to the touch, likely due to freezing temperatures.
Ba-Dum, Ba-Dum… His heart is beating.
Realizing that the closest hospital was nearly 15 miles away, he sighed, deciding on his next course of action.
Grabbing the man by his right arm, which is bandaged, and picking him up, he transfers his weight and adjusts his hold into the form of a fireman carry.
Once he is sure he has a good grip on the young man, he begins to return to his home, mentally preparing the questions he's going to have for the young man once he wakes up.
*snaps*
That didn't sound good.
When he wakes up, he owes me a trip to the chiropractor.
Ignoring the pain in his back for now, he continues to walk back towards his home. Not realizing that his good deed just changed the world.
Two days later, Inside Yoshi's Home, Morning:
Laying on a plain looking futon, the young blonde man was seen, peacefully sleeping away the day. On his head was a warm cloth. His clothes were replaced with a simple black kimono. No noise was heard in what appeared to be a simple guest room, with only a small T.V, some bookshelves, a lamp, and a clock on the wall.
*Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick*
The rhythmic sounds of the clock was the only sound Yoshi heard as we entered the room. With a new cloth in one hand, and a plate of food in the other, he walks towards to young man as he continues to sleep.
Placing the plate of food on the nearby table, he then kneels down to the side of the futon and takes off the old cloth and replaces it with the new one.
Once that was done, he left the room, threw the cloth in the laundry bin, grabbed his now ready tea and teacup, and returned to the room.
Yoshi, after closing the door behind him, places the tea next to the plate of food, walks towards the bookshelves to select a book to read. Once selected, he returns to the desk, opens the book, and begins to enjoy the peaceful morning.
Normally, Yoshi spends his mornings in this room, enjoying the peace, and a nice book with his morning meal. However, his makeshift guestroom is being occupied by the young man that has yet to awaken.
It's completely understandable. Yoshi has no idea how long the man was in-cased in stone for. He sees it as a possibility that he needs to be near the man for when he wakes up to keep him up with the time.
He sips his tea as he continues to read the content in the pages. I wonder what caused you to be placed in stone. Would you even speak any known language? So many questions I want answered. No, it's likely he's been petrified for a long time. He's likely going to experience some internal crisis; I can't overwhelm him.
Yoshi's train of thought was interrupted as he looked over at the futon. The young man begins to stir.
Well, time for the moment of truth. Yoshi places the book down and grabs his tea. Preparing for the conversation that is to come.
The last thing he remembers was seeing the form of Toneri glowing bright, then an explosion happened.
Is he dead? Kami, I hope not. Wait, what is this, why am I feeling something soft. Naruto begins to open one eye. A plain beige ceiling stares back at him. When did he get to the room?
He groans, he feels like all of his limbs fell asleep, and tries to sit up. Once he fully sits up, he begins to take in his surroundings.
Well, I'm not in the hospital. I wonder why? Knowing Sakura, she'd fight tooth and nail to keep me in that depressing building. Where am I? He begins to look around, seeing what appears to be a T.V screen, several bookshelves, and some nice-looking art. Finally looking behind him, he sees an old man, probably in his late 60s sipping on tea and looking at his direction.
Deciding to get some answers, Naruto turns around slowly, and asks.
"Hey old man, where am I? How did I get here and how long was I out?" Naruto begins to question Yoshi, who finishes his tea and places it back on the table.
Well, I guess communication isn't a problem now. "Hello young man, my name is Yoshi. To best answer your question, I think you should first tell me your name, and what you last remember." He states while pouring more tea for himself and preparing another cup for Naruto.
After Yoshi finishes pouring the tea, he walks over to Naruto and hands him the cup. He walks back and waits for Naruto to respond.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. The last thing I remember is trying to contain a massive amount of Chakra that was released on the moon that would've destroyed it completely. I last remember succeeding but then getting hit by another blast from someone else that was helping contain the blast".
As Naruto continues to talk, Yoshi keeps a calm face, but on the inside, he was shocked.
Chakra, Moon explosion, second blast. Don't tell me- Yoshi stops his train of thought when he sees that Naruto is trying to get his attention.
"Hey gramps you ok, can you hear me?" Naruto states trying to get the old man to respond.
Yoshi looks back at him, maintaining a calm look. " I apologize Naruto. I will explain everything to you, but first, I need to ask, are you a shinobi that uses Chakra?". He asks hoping not really sure what to expect.
Naruto, confused responded; "What? Of course, I'm a shinobi. And yes, I do use Chakra, but I thought everyone knew what Chakra is". Naruto states getting more frustrated with the questions. "Anyway, why do you ask?" With that, Yoshi released a sigh, then after taking a sip from his tea, started to speak.
"Alright Naruto, you may find this hard to believe, but when I found you, you were made of stone". Naruto's eyes grew in shock. The old man continued.
"I'm making a guess, but not only were you in-cased in stone, but I think you've been a statue for thousands of years". Naruto was now fully paying attention to this old man.
"In our present day, your time is shrouded in mystery. Individual humans with the power of the planet itself. A purer, stronger form of energy called Chakra. Beings so strong that climates were changed by a mere clash of attacks. We called this time period the "Shinobi era". However, due to such outlandish claims of human strength. Humanity has deemed your era, fiction".
As the old man finished his explanation, Naruto appears to have lost color in his face. Fear, shock, and disbelief are some of the main emotions whirling around Naruto's mind.
Naruto slowly stands ups, shaky legs stood firm after a bit.
"No" It was almost too soft to be heard. Luckily, due to the lack of noise, Yoshi heard it.
"Naruto are yo-". Before he could finish, Naruto's face changed to that of anger. He yells at the old man.,
"No! You're lying to me you old fart!" Naruto, with shaky legs ran out the room, and the house as well. Barely hearing Yoshi's voice of protest.
He's Lying, there's no way this is happening, I've just been captured by a lunatic. Yeah. I'll just climb to the highest vantage point and see where I am. As he thinks to himself, tries to run, but due to weak legs, he constantly fell into the snow-covered ground.
He noticed that Yoshi lives on a mountain, which is perfect since he can use the high vantage point to see where he is.
After a couple of minutes of trip running, he made it to the highest point that was cleared. A rocky edge overlooking the range was what he arrived at too.
Slowing down to a walk, he approaches the mountain's edge to see if he can find any landmark. Having traveled all over the world before, he should at least be able to find some landmark telling him where he is.
To his surprise, not only did he not recognize the land, but he sees a city he has never seen before from his point of view.
He falls to his knees and hands, not caring about the cold snow pressing against his exposed skin. Tears began to well up in his eyes.
This can't be real. I'm dreaming, this is just one big stupid dream. He balls his fist and punches his own face hard.
"Wake up, Wake up! Dammit WAKE UP!" Over and over, he hits different parts of his body hoping that the pain will wake him up for this nightmare.
No matter how much he bruises, he still sees the same damn city. Once again, he fell to his hands and knees, the tears that were building up in his eyes, were now freely falling, making indents into the cold snow below him.
He places his hand on his heart as it continues to speed up. It started to hurt more and more. Soon, he was struggling to breathe all together.
Yoshi, who just arrived, sees Naruto in a horrible state. One of his eyes is turning blue from the hits. Blood was falling from his nose, looking slightly dislocated. Short breaths were all he heard as he saw Naruto collapse in red-covered snow. Clutching his heart as tears still continue to fall.
Panicking, Yoshi runs to Naruto, getting on to his knees and trying to see what condition he was in.
Naruto, you poor boy. He can never imagine how much pain the young man was feeling. Realizing that the world not only moved on, but his home, friends, and possibly family are long gone. He was all alone.
Rubbing his hands together, a light blue glow appears on the palms. He adjusted Naruto's position so that he was lying on his back instead. Then, he places each palm on either side of his head.
It was a technique he had used in the past to help his sons relax. It's meant to release tension and force hormones to activate.
It seems to be working as Naruto's short rapid breathes slowed down, once again, he stopped clutching his heart. His once pained filled face was now at peace. His eyes remained closed as he returned to slumber.
Don't worry Naruto, I will do my best to help you out. Yoshi stated as he once again, began to carry Naruto back to his home.
Same Day, Evening
Yoshi's Home:
I guess it really wasn't dream. Naruto stated in his mind as he once again, woke up to the same beige ceiling he saw in the morning. Instead of panicking and trying to take in his surroundings, Naruto decided to just relish in the warmth.
A few moments later, he hears the sliding door to the room open, and he see's the old man, walking in with another warm cloth and some tea.
"Oh, your awake." He states as he places the tea on the table in the room. "I must apologize, I wasn't expecting you to be awake, let me get you a cup as well". Yoshi changes the clothes on his head and leaves the room to get a cup and put the use cloth in the laundry.
A minute later, Yoshi returns with another cup for tea. He heads to the table, pours tea in both cups and hands one to Naruto.
Naruto, sat up on his elbows, accepting the tea, and this time taking some sips from it.
"Arigato" Softly, Naruto thanks the old man for the tea, sticking the cup out for more.
As he pours the tea, Yoshi strikes a conversation,
"I'm sorry about earlier, I should've used a more, calm approach to explaining your situation". He states after setting down the kettle.
Naruto quickly responds, "No Gramps, I should be the one to apologize. I've been nothing but a rude guest. All you've done is help me recover and try to figure out my situation. I'm really grateful for your help". He really should be grateful for. For all he knew, he could've been in a much worse situation.
"Ah, water under the bridge now son". He states, finishing his own tea.
A bit of an awkward silence settled in between the two. Luckily if there was one thing Naruto hated was sitting still and silences.
He looks at the old and asks, "So, I was wondering, you know, since I'm technically a time-traveling person, can you tell me more about the world?" Naruto asks as Yoshi finishes filling up his own cup for the second time.
Yoshi nods, "It would be my honor". Yoshi, standing up from his chair, walked towards his bookshelves, grabbing 4 books each varying in thickness. Once he has all four, he returns to his spot and continues.
"Now then, let me start off by saying that the world we are in today isn't ruled by the same type of governments. Each country and nation has its own form of government. Ranging from dictators, to councils, and even traditional methods of ruling like monarchs, emperors, etc.". He states, preparing one of the books titled, "World Encyclopedia".
Naruto nods and asks, "Ok, what country are we in now if you don't mind me asking". So much variety, this is something that he never put much thought into.
Yoshi smiles and nods, "We are currently in a country called Japan. I can tell you right now, you are lucky that you landed here. Japanese isn't a language that is spoken around world. Perhaps at some point in the future, I can teach you English, which is the most common language.". As the old man continues to talk more about Japan, Naruto, for once, paid attention to a lecture and began to focus on the history of this country.
They continued to converse until it was time to sleep. They will continue their conversation in the morning, after a deserved rest.
Tuesday Morning, January 8, 2008:
After a filling breakfast. Naruto and Yoshi are seen in the living room, getting ready to begin where they left off. However, something was bugging Yoshi and decided to ask.
"Um, Naruto, I know this may sound like an odd request, but how well are you with technology?" Naruto raises his eyebrow. Odd, but he responds,
"I'm not that good myself. The best I know is how to use a radio". He answers truthfully.
Yoshi nods, then brings out a very small, flat box. It has what looks like a screen on it and a circle button on the bottom.
"This is what my sons gifted me last time they visited. It's called a "smart phone". I've never really learned how to use it and they said they will call me today". Yoshi stated as he pushes the button, and the screen turns on.
"Wow, this is so cool. We didn't have this type of technology in my time. Are you saying that your kids will call you on this". Naruto states as he looks closely at the pretty pictures.
Yoshi Chuckles, "That's what they said, but I myself don't know how to use it. I'm scared I might break it". As soon as he finished stating that, a loud ringing was heard, and the phone started to buzz as well.
With a yell, both Naruto and Yoshi, jumped and ran behind the sofa, expecting the phone to explode. They peeked a look at the still buzzing and ringing phone, seeing a picture of four young men with similar hair colors on it.
"Oh, those are my sons. I guess their calling now". He got out from behind the sofa and picked up the phone. He sees two buttons, a red button and a green one.
"Which one do I press to accept?" He say's sweating a bit trying to figure out what to pick.
Naruto looks over Yoshi's shoulder, "Well, green means go". He speaks. Getting his simple logic, Yoshi presses the button.
The screen changes, showing 4 young men, all wearing sweaters. All looked similar to each other, having black hair, green eyes, and similar facial structures.
"Hi dad!" The one in the orange sweater states out loud, while showing a peace sign.
"What's up dad." The man in the red sweater said as he nuggies the brother in orange.
"Its good to see you Tou-san." The brother wearing black glasses and in the purple sweater says while waving awkwardly.
"Hello Tou-san." The brother with the blue sweater and the one holding the phone says will smiling.
These were his four sons. God bless his late wife for birthing quadruplets. As of right now, they are studying abroad in the United States.
"Hello, my sons, I hope you guys are maintaining your grades." Yoshi says while waving back.
"Hell yeah we are! You won't believe how much smarter I've become" The brother in orange says. Showing a thumbs up.
"Pfft, stop lying Mitch, you know that without me you'd be dropping out and heading home right about now". The brother in purple says as he pushes his glasses up.
"Aw, c'mon man. Give me some slack. Do you know how hard it is to stay still during lectures? Let's also not forget what I did for you. If it weren't for me, you'd wouldn't be dating Abby." Mitch came back, causing the brother in purple to blush, and quickly ran to cover Mitch's mouth.
"Mitch! Shut up!". He said before hearing a snort/laugh from the one in red.
"What's this Danny, I thought you told us it was all you. *snort*, I can't tell what's sadder. The fact that you couldn't do it, or the fact that MITCH of all people helped you". The man in the red sweater stated. This caused a chain reaction between the other two, leading to all three bickering over it.
Finally, the one in the blue and the one holding the phone spoke, "Guys! Need I remind you we are on a call." He says getting their attention back to the phone in his hands, showing their father with a sweat drop forming on the side of his head.
I see that they haven't stopped fighting. Hopefully, with age, that would stop. Yoshi thought to himself. He never quite found out why they loved to bicker/bully each other so much.
"Alright, Mitch, Danny, Ray, are you guys forgetting to say something?" The one in blue emphasizes the "something" leading to his brothers nodding and getting back in an orderly pile, in front of the phone.
"Right sorry Levi, we almost forgot." Danny said as the rest hug each other's shoulder and began to say,
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOU-SAN!". By pressing a button on the phone, Levi made the screen flash briefly, before a bunch of animated balloons appeared to fall from the top of the screen, with the words "Happy Birthday" Floated down last, before disappearing.
Feeling touched, Yoshi replied, "Why thank you my sons". With that, the family is left talking. Naruto took this as his key to give them privacy.
I might as well test my current abilities. With that, he gets his sandals, and heads outside.
Backyard:
Yoshi's backyard wasn't exactly pretty. Though it was huge. Large enough to conveniently fit an arena right in the middle of it. After heading towards it and standing in the middle, Naruto held his hands in the ram sign, and began to sense his Chakra.
Wait, this isn't right. While it appears that a large aura of blue energy surrounds Naruto, he can feel that something was off about it.
Why do I feel so weak. This can't be right. While he has more chakra than the average Jonin, it's essentially a tiny pool compared to the vast ocean of reserves he had before he turned to stone.
With this in mind, Naruto forms another hand sign. He joins his middle and index fingers together on each hand, and forms a cross shape and begins to conjure up chakra once again.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu". With that, roughly 10 exact clones of Naruto appears around him
Dammit, I lost my control as well? It's like my body has been reset to my days as a genin. Coming to this realization, he wanted to test one more thing before he jumped the gun.
He sticks his bandaged right hand out and begins to gather chakra in it. Slowly, but surely, a single Chakra ring, so thin that it can barely be seen, appears hovering over his hand.
Sweat started to pour down Naruto's face as he continued to will his signature technique into shape.
No matter how hard he tried, his father's technique wouldn't appear. Then one of his shadow clones walks behind the hand and begins to spin the chakra around it. Soon the Rasengan was seen in Naruto's hand.
Ok. That confirms it, I'm back to my genin days. Man, was I really this bad at everything." If he could travel back in time, he would strangle his younger self for not taking his chakra control training seriously.
While thinking about his genin days, he is reminded about a certain tailed beast that has yet to be reawakened.
Oh shit, Kurama! I completely forgot about him. I hope he is ok. With that he quickly disperses his clones, gets into a meditation position, and travels into his mind.
Inside Naruto's Mind:
Normally, Naruto would appear right in front of Kurama. However, when he opened his eyes, he was not greeted by the tail beast. Instead, a giant green gate, similar to his seal stood right where Kurama usually sits.
Instead of a paper seal acting as the lock, a giant green gem, the same size as his own head, was seen in its place.
Walking towards it, he begins to hear a loud intake of breath, followed by the sound of the same breath being released.
It's Kurama! Or at least, he can see his tails. He can't see his face as the tailed beast seems to have his back facing the gate.
"HEY Kurama! Can you hear me!? Kurama, Kurama, KURAMA!" With that final shout, he got no response.
Deciding to stop wasting his own breath, he continues to walk closer to the front of the gate. As he got closer, the gem began to glow as well.
What is this thing anyway. Stretching his arm out, his hand is just about to touch the gem, when suddenly, Naruto eye's opened wide and he took several jumps back from the gem.
Whoa, that's a lot of Nature energy.
Naruto, once again, begins to slowly approach the gem.
Why is there so much energy. Is this what's keeping Kurama asleep? So many questions, with so little answers. One thing was for sure though, his body, nor his chakra network were ready to even begin absorbing Nature chakra.
He takes one last glimpse of Kurama's still form, before he begins to leave his mind.
Don't worry Kurama. I will get you free someday. Just not today. With that, he closes his eyes and begins to return to the outside world.
Outside of Naruto's mind:
Well, he was in his mind a lot longer than he thought. When Naruto entered his mind, the sun was at its highest point. After leaving his mind, it's very clearly sun-down, as the sky is just beginning to turn dark.
A little ways away, he also sees Yoshi, in a similar position, releasing what he calls "Chi". From all around his body.
Naruto, readjusting his position, caused the old man to open his eye and stop his meditation.
"I see you are back. How was your meditation session". Yoshi stated, as the blue aura began to fade back into his body.
"Ah, well. It went well. I was trying to see how much my body has recovered. So, I-", he was interrupted by Yoshi.
"So, you came out hear to evaluate your mind, aura, and body, correct?" He finishes Naruto's statement for him, all the while getting up to and sitting in a kneeling position closer to Naruto.
Naruto nods in return.
"Well, what did you discover? Are you almost back to full strength?" Yoshi asks, gaining interest in the young man's potentially ancient source of power.
Naruto shakes his head.
"Honestly, no. Not even close. My reserves, my control, even my own physical strength, its nowhere near the level I once had." Naruto stated honestly. Afterall, Yoshi has gained some trust with how well he treated him the past few days.
Yoshi, still listening, used his body language to tell Naruto to continue, all the while, bringing out a long smoking pipe, and a lighter, and begins to have a smoke.
Naruto continues
"I was once considered the strongest fighter of my time. Only my best friend could match me. To go from that to what I am now, its". Once again, Yoshi finished his train of thought.
"Frustrating, right. To have reach the highest level of your training, only to be brought back to step one." He releases some smoke after finishing the statement. Having Naruto's attention, he continues.
"When I was younger, I was also considered a prodigy in the form of our modern-day martial arts. However, after being defeated at a tournament in my 40s, my body never was able to fully return to that level.". He says, as he remembers that day, receiving a powerful, near fatal blow from a blonde man in red to the chest.
"I'm sorry to hear that old man." Naruto states feeling bad for the elderly man who clearly seems to not of gotten over it.
"Do you think, I can still recover and return to my formal self?" Naruto asks, hoping to receive some good news.
Yoshi releases another puff.
"Naruto, give me your hand". Naruto, confused, scoots closer to the old man, and places his bandaged right hand on top of Yoshi's outstretched left hand.
Flipping the hand over so that the knuckles were facing up, he rubs his thumb over them.
"Started releasing your energy". asks Naruto, who in return holds part of the ram hand sign with his left hand and begins to release his chakra.
"While our sources of energy are different, they are similar enough to where I can sense it and try to map out your max capacity." He states as begins to sense for Naruto's reserves. After a few moments, He opens his eyes.
Shock fills his one clear eye as he tries to comprehend what he was sensing.
This Young man. He wasn't lying, these reserves, this energy, it's unbelievable. Finishing his train of thought, he replies.
"I-I can say for sure that you will one day make a full recovery. Back to your original level of strength." He is still trying to cope with what he just felt.
"Really. Awesome!" Naruto states with exactment. He jumps up and begins to celebrate. A few seconds of dancing later and Naruto stands in front of Yoshi and asks,
"How long do you think I need to train before I return to being my Usual self". He asks as he assists Yoshi with getting up.
" I'm sorry to be a little bit of a downer, but from what I've sense, it could take years for you to fully recover." He states, already regretting being that blunt as Naruto deflates like a popped balloon.
"What do you mean years! Isn't there something that can, I don't know, jump-start my recovery time?" He asks trying to find any way he recover his power faster.
Yoshi shakes his head.
"If your story is true, your body was likely placed under a large amount of strain. So much so that it has caused your body to "reset" itself to more primitive state." He continues as he tries to find the best way to explain.
"If an athlete breaks a leg or tears their muscle, they aren't moving the appendage for quite some time. This can lead to having the leg lose muscle mass, or even muscle memory. It's only through long periods of therapy in which the leg has any sort of chance of returning to form", He states looking over towards Naruto to see if he is still following along.
"So, what you are saying, I need to place my whole body into therapy?" Naruto asks hoping he understands, what the old man is saying.
The old mans puts the pipe to his lips and takes in smoke,
"Not necessarily. Since you were locked in stone for so long, your body has gotten weaker. However, I believe with just redoing your training as if you were just learning it can be the best way in ensuring you a speedy recovery". With that, Naruto's morale was back to be high.
"Alright then, looks like I have a lot of work to do". He looks back at the moon, "Since I already mastered my techniques, All I have to do is relearn then, and then my body will grow along side with it". He states before he begins to stretch.
"Its time to start my, Super, Ultra, Quick and Easy training period to return to full strength!". A hand is placed on his shoulder.
"Perhaps you can do that, starting tomorrow, right now, I'd think its best that we get you food, and sleep." He speaks. From his years of experience, intense training on little rest and food can be a death sentence for anyone not ready for it.
Naruto looks at the old man, ready to retort, but then hears his stomach protest with a growl.
"Alright old man, I will start my training, tomorrow." He speaks. Making Yoshi nod as they head back inside.
"By the way, do you have ramen?" Little did Yoshi know. You never offer Naruto free ramen, ever!
End Note:
And with that, concludes the first official chapter of this story! I hope you like it.
Now I want state this right here, there will be a one-year time-skip between this chapter and the next chapter. This means that the ages that I have listed will apply starting next chapter.
If any of you caught the special guests here, I hope you enjoyed it, but not too much as they were merely there as place holders. Yoshi nor his sons will play any role following this chapter.
Lastly, thank you all so much for the love you've shown me so far. As I stated before, I'm new to the SF franchise, and to writing so please be patient as I will make mistakes along the way. For those that have followed and placed my story in the Favorite category, or even gave it a chance, thank you so much for the support. I promise to continue to improve as a writer and as a fan of the SF franchise.
With that being said, I'll see you all next time. BYE! ^_^