Chapter 10: The Child of the Prophecy Part I

The last few days had been quite interesting for Naruto. The first, and perhaps the most significant change that had befallen the island nation, was the fact that it was now at war. Or officially at any rate. And with that proclamation, it brought along many different changes. The one that impacted Naruto the most was the change in the curriculum at the academy. Not that the blond Uzumaki minded. He preferred the new schedule present at the academy. The only bad part was why it came into existence in the first place. Some of the other changes the blond jinchuriki had noticed was how the shinobi no longer went on missions. But instead, they now spent all their time preparing for the war. Not that Naruto blamed them. It was going to be hell. And the more prepared they were, the better. Even so, the blond already knew that death was unavoidable.

Naruto shook his head, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind. He needed to stay focus. After all, this was why he was here. To stop any more wars from happening. It was just too bad that he wouldn't be able to stop this one from occurring. He had arrived too late for that. Something which irritated him to no end.

"What's with the face, whiskers?"

Naruto blinked as Aika's face suddenly came in front of his vision, intruding the clouds from his line of sight. Currently, Naruto was sprawled on his back with his arms behind his head as he laid on the grassy area that was Aika's backyard. They had been let out of the academy an hour earlier because the instructor had to pick up something apparently. Naruto had been idly curious as to what it could be before he lost interest. It was then that Aika had asked him if he wanted to visit her house and perhaps even get some extra training in. Naruto had agreed instantly. He was already fond of the girl, considering her to be one of the closets friends he had in this time, even if they only knew each other for about a week. The blond had wanted to bring Haru along as well, but the shy Uzumaki had quickly declined the offer, saying something about needing to practice some things on his own. Naruto would have to ask the boy to show him later too. As for Kushina, she had said no without giving a reason. Not that Naruto needed one. He, hell the whole class, already knew that the two girls couldn't stand each other.

After that, things had happened too fast for Naruto. He told Kushina to tell Kazumi that he was going over to a friend's house and that he would get home later. But it was what happened after that that had made things…awkward. He met Aika's parents. First, it had been Aika's father who Naruto now knew was named Hiroshi. It wasn't like the man was a horrible person per say. But for some reason that he couldn't fathom, the man apparently didn't like him…or maybe it was just his imagination? After all, the man had been polite. Not nice, but not rude either. Hmm…..Naruto would have to ponder that one. Once they had arrived at the house, Naruto had the embarrassment to meet Aika's mother, a beautiful looking woman named Asako. To Naruto, the woman looked like an older version of Aika, except with longer hair and well…all the other grown up parts that got Naruto blushing just thinking about it. But that wasn't the worst part. Since the moment that Naruto had set foot inside the house, the woman had looked too excited about something. It was another thing that Naruto didn't understand. Not only that, but he had seen both the mother and daughter duo talking quietly to each other at one point, something which had made him curious. Especially since it had left Aika, one of the coolest persons Naruto had met, blushing like no tomorrow.

'I wonder what that was about…..'

"You really are an idiot, aren't you, brat?"

Naruto chose to ignore his tenant that was stuck with him in favor of coming out of his thoughts and back to reality. Looking at Aika's curious face, he responded, "I'm just reflecting about the last few days is all. With the announcement of the war and everything else, you know."

Aika hummed at hearing that, sitting next to the blond who got up to be in a sitting position as well. "You sure do surprise me a lot, whiskers. I never thought that you would be one to think about anything that didn't involve ramen."

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched at that. So it had only been about a week and the girl already knew that he was obsessed with ramen. Big deal. Ramen was the food of the gods! He wasn't ashamed if others found out about his obsession with it.

The girl then shrugged. "But you're over thinking this too much. It has nothing to do with us. At least, not yet. We still have to survive the academy first."

She was completely wrong about that. It did concern him. Hell, it had everything to do with him. It was why he was here. But he couldn't very well tell the girl that, could he? Naruto wasn't sure that the Uzumaki girl would be able to understand it. Or maybe he was just using that as an excuse as to just not let her get involved with him too much. Naruto didn't want to put her in any unnecessary danger. That rang true for Haru, Kushina, and just about his entire clan as a whole. He wanted to protect them all with every fiber of his being. Which was exactly what he was going to do.

Aika suddenly had a sullen look on her face. "Although, I guess there is something that I'm concerned about."

Now, Naruto was curious. "What is it?"

The girl turned her head around to look at her home for a few moments before shifting her gaze to him. "My mom just told me how she and dad are going to join the active roster again. Apparently, Uzu is going to need every shinobi it can get. And well, my parents were supposedly very good jonin back in the day."

Realization hit Naruto like a bucket of cold water. "You're afraid, aren't you?"

Aika didn't respond for a few moments, her eyes drifting to the side. Naruto was about to ask her again when she suddenly looked at him again, this time with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. Naruto was suddenly taken back at the sight.

"Yeah, I'm afraid. They're my parents. They're all I have. And just thinking that they can die for a war that doesn't even have anything to do with us in the first place and for people who aren't even going to appreciate it if they do…..it just pains me."

Naruto was unsure of himself at the moment. So far, he had never seen the girl in front of him act like this. She had always seemed so confident, so sure of herself. Almost as if nothing could hurt her. But Naruto realized that he was wrong. Aika was still just a little girl. If she lost her parents now, it would destroy her. She was also vulnerable to her feelings, something that Naruto had fail to realize until now.

'I'm really stupid,' he thought. In the back of his mind, he waited for Kurama to agree with him. But it seemed as if the giant fox had nothing to say about the matter. Focusing on the now shaking girl in front of him, Naruto sighed. He didn't like seeing her like this. This wasn't the usual Aika who gave him the feeling that she could take on the whole world and still come out on top. Without fully realizing what he was doing, Naruto embraced her, holding her tightly in his arms. He felt the girl stiffen for a moment before she relaxed. Confident that she wouldn't push him away or anything, Naruto tried to find the right words to say to her.

After a few seconds, he said, "You don't have to worry about that, Aika-chan. You're not alone. You have me. Not to mention both Haru and Kushina too. We'll always be there whenever you need it. Trust me. But don't dwell on negative thoughts like that either. Have faith in your parents. Do you really think they would ever leave you alone? It won't be long before things go back to normal with you three being a family."

"Is that really true?" the girl mumbled quietly, enjoying the warmth that Naruto was radiating.

Naruto nodded, a look of reassurance on his face. "I promise you that."

The girl merely nodded, wrapping her arms around the blond Uzumaki. Seeing her no longer crying, Naruto smiled. At least he had managed to do something right for once. Not only that, but he had also made a promise with her, one that he fully intended to keep. After all, he never went back on his promises.

The two suddenly tensed when the sound of amused giggles reached their ears. Turning to look towards the house, the two kids let out a small eek when they saw Aika's mother, Asako, looking at them with a hand in front of her face as she continued to giggle with a look that Naruto could only describe yet again as excitement.

"Well, this is quite the scene I stumbled into. And here I thought that you two were just going to train. Tricking your mother like that. You're so bold, Aika-chan," she said, sending a wink at her daughter at the end.

Aika's face went beet red, instantly pushing Naruto back as she quickly stood up. "S-stop talking about that already!"

Hearing her stutter just like Hinata brought another small smile to Naruto's face. It was a lot better than seeing her cry all right. But he still didn't understand what the two were talking about.

Inside of Naruto's conscious, Kurama couldn't but sigh at his partner's idiocity when it came to women. It was something that he had already noticed when it came to that Hyuuga girl as well, Hinata if he remembered correctly. Then again, the brat hadn't had parents to explain such things to him. So it wasn't entirely his fault. Nevertheless, it was just another reason Kurama needed to call the blond Uzumaki an idiot. And he wasn't going to pass it up.

"And you!"

Naruto blinked dumbly as Aika pointed at him, a giant blush still present on her face. "Don't just sit there and say nothing! Say something!"

The blond boy simply scratched his cheek, not knowing what to say since he was still confused beyond belief about the situation at hand. Hearing Aika's mother release even more giggles, Naruto and Aika turned to look at her again.

"Don't worry," she said, one hand still in front of her face, "I won't tell your father about him just yet, Aika-chan."

Naruto simply watched as both mother and daughter continued to talk about whatever it was that they were. But there was one thing that he was able to understand: girls were weird.

Haru listened intently as Naruto continued to explain what had happened to him yesterday. It was currently early in the morning before another day at the academy started. Haru was the kind of student who always preferred to arrive as early as he could so that he would be prepared for when class started. It was just in his nature. Usually, he was the first one to arrive. And today had not been different. But both Naruto and Kushina had arrived early today as well, just a few minutes after he had actually. Which surprised the boy a lot since there were still thirty minutes before class started. Usually the two Uzumaki didn't arrive until about five minutes were left. Then again, things were probably hectic in the clan head's household. Since both the clan head and his father were gone, Haru was sure that Kazumi-san was stuck with preparing the clan for their role in the war. Which explained why the two were early today. Kazumi-san had probably sent them out as early as she could.

Haru came out of his thoughts as Naruto continued to explain his confusion about the day before. It was just small talk since they needed time to kill. Aika hadn't yet arrived either.

"But yeah. I mean, can you understand that? Because I can't. I mean, why would Aika-chan be blushing like that? What did her kaa-chan tell her? Hmm it's just all weird. Girls are weird."

Haru couldn't help but sigh at his best friend's ignorance on the subject. That wasn't to say that he knew a lot when it came to girls. Most of the time he didn't understand them either. But he could tell that Aika was already starting to develop a crush on the only blond Uzumaki on the whole island. It was far too obvious for the third member of the small group to not notice. Still, though, was Naruto really that naive? Or was he just acting? Seeing said blond scratch his head in obvious confusion at the subject at hand, Haru knew immediately that his guess was right. Still, that did present him with a problem. Should he spill the beans and tell Naruto what was up? But if he did, the boy was sure that Aika would not be pleased with him. The girl was tough. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of an ass whooping from her. So instead, he decided to play the idiot as well.

Shrugging slightly, he answered, "I'm not really sure either. Maybe she was coming down with a fever or something?"

"I guess that could make sense," Naruto said slowly before he shrugged as well. "Ah, whatever. If there's a problem, I'm sure Aika-chan will tell us."

Haru simply nodded, glad to see his friend drop the subject. He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of Aika's wrath. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?" he asked, quite curious to see if Naruto already had plans.

Naruto looked at him with a raised eyebrow, while silently thankful that Haru didn't feel so nervous around him that he stuttered. "Don't we have the academy tomorrow too? I know it's a Saturday, but with the war going on, we now have to attend it every day of the week right?"

Haru couldn't help but sweatdrop. "You really weren't paying attention yesterday, were you?" Although in all retrospect, Haru knew he shouldn't be surprised. For whatever reason, Naruto always slept during the only hour that they were cooped up in the classroom to learn the theory behind chakra usage and the like. He didn't really understand why. As far as Haru was concerned, everything was important.

If only he realized that he was talking to one of the most powerful shinobi in the history of the shinobi world. It would be quite a sight.

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look. Haru sighed, but before he could explain what he was talking about, another voice beat him to it.

"He's talking about the day we have off tomorrow."

Both Naruto and Haru turned their heads to the entrance of the classroom to see Aika walking towards them with an exasperated look on her face. In the first row of the classroom, Kushina glanced at the her now rival for a few moments before turning to face the chalkboard that was in front of the classroom with a blank look. Naruto saw this but placed it in the back of his mind for now. Instead, he looked at his friend with a confused look just as she sat down next to him.

"But why? I thought we had classes everyday now?"

Aika shrugged. "I have no clue. Shiba-sensei wasn't all that clear about it yesterday." She then shot him a look of slight irritation. "And just how didn't I catch you napping yesterday? Because I was sure you were awake during the whole lecture. I didn't even have to wake you up after it was over."

Naruto puffed out his chest in obvious pride at hearing her question. "It's a secret technique I've mastered." Well, technically it had been Shikamaru who had invented it and mastered it before teaching it to him, Choji, and Kiba, but they didn't need to know that.

Haru couldn't help but blink in slight astonishment at the answer. "What kind of technique is that?"

Naruto grinned. "It's simple. You just keep the book in front of you the whole time, making it look like you're following along with the lecture. And then bam! You can doze off. Hehehe, it works like a charm if I do say so myself. Especially if even Aika-chan wasn't able to notice me."

A look of realization showed itself on Aika's face. "That explains why you kept the book in front of you the whole time!" She then sighed. "And here I thought you were actually starting to work."

Naruto shot her a look of wonder. "Work? Me? You must have the wrong, but just not as dashing, blond, Aika-chan."

Both Haru and Aika shared a look of amusement at their friend's answer. A question then popped up on the girl's head. "If you were really asleep, then how come you were awake when the lecture ended?"

Naruto waved his hand in dismissal at the question. "Oh, that. I just happened to wake up in time is all. I mean, the whole class did start screaming when Shiba-sensei announced that we could get out of class early. Lucky me."

The girl merely sighed. "You're just too weird, whiskers."

Naruto chuckled at hearing that. "I know. Just like you've told me everyday so far."

She sent him a smile that was laced with mischief. "Just like I'll keep doing it everyday of our lives."

Haru glanced at Naruto to see if he understood the hidden message. But to his amazement, the blond simply shrugged before he turned to look at the front of the classroom as other students started to enter. Really, Haru found himself staring in amazement. Even he wasn't so dense….ish. Okay, maybe a little. Or a lot. Whatever.

Naruto glanced at his mother, having noticed just how her mood had been dropping for the last couple of days. That wasn't to say that she was hostile towards him. Thankfully that was over with. So he knew that the problem wasn't with him. Which only left him to wonder just what was going on with his mother. Hopefully it was something that he could help with.

The blond Uzumaki came out of his thoughts when he saw their chunnin instructor entering the room with a stack of small square shaped papers in his hands. Naruto realized what they were in an instant. They were chakra papers. It was then that Naruto realized what they were going to do for the day. And it brought him the longing feeling of excitement. He now had the chance to expand his jutsu. He could only hope that Uzu wasn't as rare with wind users like Konoha was. Because that would just suck.

Naruto then noticed how both Aika's and Haru's eyes lit up at seeing what the chunnin was carrying as well. So they knew of it already, did they? It did bring him a small amount of annoyance at his ignorance when he had been at their age. Then again, it had mainly been his fault. He had been too busy trying to get people to notice him by playing his pranks rather than applying himself in the academy. Well, whatever. That was the past…or was it the future? Ugh, whatever. Naruto didn't want another headache that came whenever he thought about the time sequence.

"Good morning to you all," began the chunnin as he cleared his throat. "Now, I know that many of you are wondering why you were able to get out so early yesterday." Which he knew wasn't the case. The brats were just happy that they had gotten out early, period. "The reason being that I needed to pick up these for today," he continued, holding up one of the chakra papers.

One of the students in front of the class raised his hand. "Sensei, just what are those?"

"An excellent question," he said, holding the chakra paper in front of him. "I won't bore you with the details, but this paper is a special kind. It was made to specifically tell you what the nature of your chakra is."

The chunnin saw how the entire class understood what he was saying. Thank Kami he had already covered chakra nature. It would have been a pain to explain it right now.

"How does it work?" asked the same student from before.

"It's simple," he answered as he sent his chakra into the paper. The class watched in wonder, save for Naruto, as the paper became wet and damp. "All you have to do is send some of your chakra into the paper, and it will tell you what your affinity is. If you're a lightning user, it will wrinkle. A water user, it will become wet. A fire user, the paper will burn into ash. An earth user, it will turn into dirt. And finally, a wind user if the paper is split into two. As you can see, the paper turned damp when it came into contact with my chakra, meaning that I have a water affinity. That is the most common chakra nature of our clan, so don't be too depressed if you all share the same one."

The class just listened intently, already excited into finding out just what their chakra natures would be. That rang true for both Aika and Haru who, while knowing what chakra paper was and what it did, had never checked their affinity nor trained in mastering it. So they were excited as they felt that they were taking a new step into their shinobi lives.

"Now, today's class is going to be even shorter than yesterday's," the chunnin began. Hearing the mutters starting to spread across the class, he quickly continued. "The reason being that I want all of you to independently study and began to try to master your chakra nature." The chunnin already knew that the second part wasn't doable. It would take the remainder years at the academy before the shinobis-to-be completely mastered their affinities and then some. But this was just one of the many exercises that the academy stressed as a way to teach its students how to adapt into being self dependent. After all, in real combat, nothing was assured. Simply following the rules would almost surely guarantee failure in a lot of instances. It was why it was crucial that the future generation of shinobi knew how to think for themselves.

"Now then," he carried on, "I want you all to form a line in front of me so that I can give you all each a chakra paper. After that, you're free to go. You can either use the library here for studies or the public one if you so desire."

Naruto hummed quietly to himself, glancing at both of his friends and wondering what their chakra natures would be. He hoped that at least one of them got wind. Then he could try and give them some pointers if he could. Although, he did realize that having the rest of the day off did give him the chance to try something that he had been meaning to do for the last few days.

'Good thing everything's already settled now.' Given how busy his grandmother was as well as having his grandfather out of the village right now, Naruto knew that it would be the best time at the moment.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Naruto followed behind Aika to stand in line to receive one of the chakra papers.

Naruto couldn't help but sigh in disappointment as he walked alongside Kushina back to their house. Neither Aika nor Haru had wind as their primary chakra affinity. Talk about a letdown. After having each received a chakra paper, the trio had walked to stand under the tree that they had first met to find out what their affinities were. Or more specifically, what Aika's and Haru's affinities were. Haru had done it first, and to Naruto's surprise the boy had a lightning affinity just like Sasuke and Kakashi had. Then, Aika tried hers, which turned out to be fire. The girl had seemed excited at the discovery, something Naruto had noticed but didn't question. After rechecking his, Naruto had asked his two friends if they could meet back in the same spot after lunchtime. The two had agreed since they didn't really have anything else to do. Both Aika and Haru were already aware that they weren't going to master their affinities in a day. Not only that, but Naruto had practically begged them. After having been subjugated to his puppy eyes, they couldn't refuse.

Putting that aside for now, Naruto glanced at Kushina as they continued to walk back home. Kazumi had recently given them this freedom because she was too busy with clan matters to pick them up like she usually did.

"So what was your affinity?" Naruto asked, curious to know what his mother's main chakra nature was.

"It's water," Kushina answered instantly in quiet voice. Naruto frowned, noticing this. He really needed to figure out what was wrong with her at the moment.

"Why don't you try the frontal approach? It's worked for you so far."

The furball did have a point. Besides, Naruto was confident the girl already considered him a friend. While still not completely sure how he had managed it, Naruto wasn't going to complain about it.

"You've seemed really down lately," the blond began, eyeing the girl through his peripherals for a reaction. And a reaction he got when he saw her slightly flinch at hearing him. "You know you can trust me, right? We're friends!"

Kushina stopped in her tracks, causing Naruto to do the same. They only had a few blocks before they reached the compound anyway. Kushina turned to face him, opening her mouth to say something before closing it. She did it again, repeating the process over and over again which only cause the frown on Naruto's face to become bigger. It seemed as if the young girl wasn't sure how to express what she was trying to say.

"I'm just…"

Naruto's ears twitched at the whisper, not being able to hear the rest of what his mother had to say. "What was that?"

She immediately locked eyes with him, making Naruto notice how there were tears already forming in her eyes. "I'm just scared, okay! I never even knew what war was! I still don't. But I do know that my whole family is going to be in danger because of it! And I don't want to lose them! I just don't….."

For the second time in two days, Naruto found himself in the exact same situation. And for the second time in two days, the blond couldn't help but curse his stupidity at not picking up how the lives of everyone in the island were now going to be completely changed because of this as well as their moods, including Kushina's and how that was going to affect them.

Kushina shook her head, wiping her tears. She didn't want to be weak. She knew just how strong Kaito was. He never cried. He was always brave, ready to face any challenge that came his way. It was how he had become a jonin already. It was also the main reason that she admired her older brother the most, even if she didn't show it that often. She hoped to be that strong one day. And crying wasn't going to accomplish that.

Naruto's eyes softened as he sensed his mother's thoughts. He could tell that she didn't want to appear weak to others. It was admirable, all right. "You don't have to act all tough, you know."

Kushina's attention returned to Naruto at hearing the blond speak. Seeing how he had her attention, Naruto continued. "I know you're not used to expressing how you feel. But things are different. At the very least, you have me now. You can share anything you want with me without having to worry about me calling you weak. Relying on others isn't a sign of weakness. Having friends there to support you is the true way to becoming truly strong. When you have others to support you, there's nothing you can't accomplish. So don't be afraid to try and reach to me for help. Because I will always be there whenever you need me. I promise you that."

"Why would you go that far?" Kushina asked, not entirely sure if she was hearing the whiskered blond correctly. "I was so mean to you when we first met. Why would you be willing to go that far for someone like me?"

Naruto smiled as he placed a hand on top of her head, which caused Kushina to blush at the act. "Because I know you're not a bad person. Even if you do try to hide behind your status, I know that you still care for those around you. I mean, that's why you apologized to me on my first day at the academy remember? Right there, I knew that you were a good person. You're also someone that I will always treasure. That's something that will never change. You can believe that!"

By the end of Naruto's speech, Kushina's face was beet red. But Naruto didn't particularly notice that detail. So instead, he grabbed a hold of her hand and dragged her with him as he ran towards the compound.

"Now, come on! We still have to train in our affinities!"

Kushina didn't answer. Or rather, she wasn't able to at this point. She simply let herself be dragged along.

In Naruto's mind, Kurama observed all of this in silence.

Naruto had an intense look on his face as he sat crossed leg on the floor in his room. Kushina was in the compound's backyard. She had found some scrolls that could teach her how to start to control her water affinity in the compound's library. She couldn't ask either her mother or Kaito since neither were in the compound right now. And Naruto couldn't help her because he knew nothing about water style techniques. So the blond felt that it would be better if he left her to her own devices for a while and let her concentrate. Besides, he still had to accomplish his own mission before he could meet up with Aika and Haru later on.

Inside his mind, Kurama was roaring in laughter. "Keep going, brat. Your idiotic look is really making my day right now."

Naruto t'ched at the bijuu's teasing. 'Oi, how about a little less joking and a little bit more helping.'

Kurama grinned, not that Naruto could see it. "Again, you fail to realize that I have to keep my amusement levels high, brat. And you're the only thing here that can help me achieve that."

Naruto's eyebrows twitched. Kurama had just basically called him a thing. 'I'm really going to get you back one of these days, furball. Just you watch. I wasn't known as the master of pranks for nothing.'

Kurama chuckled. "Bring it on, brat. I'll take you on anytime and anywhere."

Naruto sighed before he shook his head. He could argue with the giant fox later. He had to contact the toads. But he couldn't very well do it in the compound. It was too risky. Not only that, but his secret spot in the outskirts of the village where he had originally checked to see if his jutsu had remained wasn't so secret anymore. With the announcement of the war, patrols in the area had been doubled. So that was out as well.

That only left the blond Uzumaki with one option left. Which was to go directly to the toads themselves. But at the moment, he was having troubling remembering how he could do that. Did he simply summon himself there? Or what? He hadn't exactly asked Fukasaku that the last time they had met. Which just sucked.

In his mind, Kurama sighed, realizing that he had had his filled of fun already. Besides, they couldn't joke around too much.

"Oi, brat. Just do the regular summoning jutsu. At the very least, you'll get one of the toads here and you can explain what's going on."

Naruto frowned. 'What if someone walks in? Just how am I going to explain that?'

"Don't worry about it. No one is at the compound right now that could sense you using chakra. Your mother doesn't posses that insight yet. So it'll be safe. Not to mention that we really don't have any options about this at the moment. This is the only way right now."

Naruto simply nodded, accepting the bijuu's reasoning as he stood up. It was at times like these that he really appreciated having Kurama with him. At the very least, he had someone who he could talk to freely without any possible repercussions. It was a good feeling.

But the blond put those thoughts aside for now, not that Kurama wasn't able to pick them up. Even if he didn't say anything, Kurama felt a great sense of happiness at knowing that Naruto actually did feel that way. Of course, he couldn't show it. That would just ruin his image which he needed to maintain. He was, after all, the badass of all bijuu. A self proclaimed title of course. Moving on…..

Naruto quickly went through the seals necessary to perform the summoning jutsu. He hesitated at the last handseal for a slight second before bringing his hand down to the floor, expecting a puff of smoke followed by seeing either Fukasaku or Shima. Or any toad really. It was better than nothing. But instead, Naruto tilted his head in confusion as none of those things happened. No smoke, no toad, nothing.

The blond was about to scream in impatience when he himself disappeared in a puff of smoke a moment later, leaving no trace behind that he had ever been in the room.

Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt through the sky down to the earth below. Taking in his circumstances, his shinobi instincts took over at the last moment, regaining control of himself and landing on the ground on his two feet rather than on his face. That would have hurt.

Naruto frowned as he scanned his surroundings. What had just happened? One second he was trying to unsuccessfully summon one of the toads so that he could explain his situation to them and have them on his side again and the next, poof! In this time period where his true allies were practically zero, Naruto knew that having the toads on board with him would be of great help. Not to mention that they were also great friends to him that he wouldn't mind having the chance to speak to again.

As he scanned his surroundings, Naruto's eyes lit up in recognition at seeing the familiar scenery around him. He was at Mount Myoboku! But just how in the world had he gotten here?

"My, you certainly do look different from the last time I saw you, Naruto-chan."

Naruto perked up at hearing the familiar voice. He turned around and just like he had expected and hoped, one of the great Toad Sages, Fukasaku, was standing before him. Well, in the way that a toad stood anyway.

Naruto's eyes started to water at seeing the toad, as well as realizing that the Toad Sage recognized him. Not that he was bothering to understand why that was. He was just happy that Fukasaku did.

"Fukasaku-jii-chan!"

Fukasaku chuckled at hearing the excitement in his student's voice. "It's good to see you too, Naruto-chan. But you're going to have to explain to me why you're back to being a small kid again. And why you're in this time right now as well. But first, come. We can discuss this back at home. Ma will be happy to see you too."

Naruto simply nodded before he followed behind the toad with a smile on his face. So far, this day was turning out to be a good one.

"You little fool!"

Naruto cringed as Shima smacked him in his head, a deep frown on his face. "What did I do….?"

"What didn't you do, you little brat!" she retorted. "Do you have any idea in how much danger you've been since we last saw you!? You could have died! And then who else would have been left to taste my cooking!?"

Naruto cringed again at the mention of her cooking. It wasn't like he wasn't happy to see Shima. He was overjoyed. But her cooking was just…better he not go there or he would start barfing all over the place.

"I'm alive, though, right?" Naruto said in a dismissive tone. "I got here in one piece, and that's all that really matters."

Fukasaku chuckled from his spot by the table placed in their small living room. Well, to them it wasn't small. "Ma, just drop it already. You know how Naruto-chan is. Just as reckless as Jiraiya-chan."

"And look where that got the pervert," Shima said in a small voice before shaking her head. "Whatever. At least you're here. But you must be hungry! I'll prepare something for you right away!"

Naruto simply smiled weakly as the toad made her way to her kitchen. No matter how much he didn't want to eat her food, the blond didn't have it in him to say no to her. Especially when she was this excited. Looking at Fukasaku, Naruto asked the question that had been bothering him since he got here.

"Just how is it that you guys can remember me?"

"Through the contract that you have with us," was his answer. After a few moments, he elaborated. "A few days ago, your name suddenly appeared in our contract scroll. When that happened, we were all able to regain our memories of you because of the connection that we have through you with the contract. Our first reaction was to try and summon you over here to see what was going on, especially Ma. But we decided to wait until you tried to contact us. Then, we would know that you were in a stable location. So when you tried to summon me earlier, I simply summoned you instead. And here you are."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face. "Well, I don't really understand the whole contract connection thing, but I'm just glad you remember me. I was about to go insane with just having a giant furball to talk to about my real problems."

He heard Kurama h'mph in his mind. "Ha, you should be happy to even be my presence, brat. Others would kill for it!"

Naruto rolled his eyes internally at the fox's response before focusing his attention back to Fukasaku.

"Your story is certainly most interesting, though, Naruto-chan," he said as he rubbed his small goatee, a contemplating look on his face. "To think that you and Sasuke would actually meet the Rikudo Sennin. And that he's the one who sent you both here no less! If I didn't already know just how trouble seems to be attracted to you, I wouldn't believe it."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I would feel the same way if it hadn't happened to me. But it's just all weird. The Sennin hasn't given me anything specific to do. Only that it was up to us to handle it ourselves. I would prefer if he was at least a bit more clear about it."

"It seems to me like he wants you to find your own answer," Fukasaku replied. "Just like I'm guessing he wants Sasuke to do the same. Maybe that's why he decided to split the two of you up for the time being."

'But answers to what,' Naruto thought, not voicing it out loud. He was just too skeptical about a lot of the Sennin's motives. That wasn't to say that he thought the Sennin was trying to commit any evil into the world. But the blond just had the feeling that the man wasn't telling him and Sasuke everything just yet. Oh well. He would find out eventually. It wasn't like he could contact the Sennin. He had to wait for him to show up first.

"So?" Fukasaku said. "What are your plans for right now, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto frowned at hearing the question. "I'm not sure yet. One thing I'm certain of, though, is that I won't let my clan perish like it did in the original timeline. I don't care if it's selfish or not. But I want to protect Uzu with all my heart. That goes for my mother as well. I don't want her to go through the same pain twice."

Fukasaku smiled at hearing the blond's answer. "Jiraiya-chan would be proud of you."

Naruto beamed at hearing that. But then a thought came to him. "Oooooh, that's right! Ero-sennin has a contract with you guys already, doesn't he?"

Fukasaku nodded at that. "Indeed he does. He's just about completed his senjutsu training too."

A small smile formed itself on the blond's face at hearing that. Seeing the look, Fukasaku asked, "Do you wish to speak to him, Naruto-chan? We could arrange it if you want to."

Naruto shook his head. "Not yet. I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk to him just yet. Not until I'm in Konoha anyway."

Fukasaku simply nodded, accepting the Uzumaki's answer.

"Lunch is ready!"

Naruto shivered as he realized what that meant for him.

After a very painful meal, Naruto found himself in the giant room that he had only been to once before today. And that was the private chambers of the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru. Apparently the Sage had requested his presence as soon as possible. And Naruto wasn't one to turn down the chance to speak with the Toad Sage. After all, maybe he could get some more insight as to what he should do first and if he could save his clan at all. But Naruto realized that even if the toad said that he couldn't, he would still try. There was just no way that he would simply sit back and watch his clan be destroyed just simply because he was told that he couldn't. It just wasn't in his nature.

"I have brought him to you," Fukasaku said from his spot on Naruto's shoulders. Shima had stayed behind to clean the mess that they had left.

"Ah," Gamamaru hummed for a moment. Then, he said, "Who are you again?"

Both Fukasaku and Naruto twitched at hearing the first thing that the wise toad had to say. "Uzumaki Naruto," Fukasaku said slowly, trying to reign in his irritation. He was fond of the Toad Sage, he really was. But the toad was just going too senile already. As for Naruto, the blond couldn't believe that the toad was still as forgetful as ever. Then again, he still wasn't sure just how old the toad was. So most likely a measly forty years or so had nothing on the toad.

"He's the one that you requested," Fukasaku added.

"Ah, yes," Gamamaru said in remembrance. "Uzumaki Naruto. The mischievous blue eyed boy. Hmm, yes, yes. I've been expecting you for quiet some time."

"Does he remember me too?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice to Fukasaku who nodded.

"Yes. Just like the rest of us toads."

But that just made Naruto even more confused then. Did that mean that the Toad Sage knew from the beginning what would happen to him and Sasuke? But that couldn't be!….right? Then again, the old toad did have a knack for making prophecies. So it wasn't that far off to believe that he could have known beforehand. But if so, then why hadn't he told him before about all of this?

"You have quiet the hard road ahead of you….."

Naruto's eyes widened. This is what he had been hoping for. "What do you mean? What's going to happen?"

"I saw you in a dream…..holding a girl who was covered in blood. I saw you crying before you went on a rampage filled with rage, destroying everything around you and hurting those close to you."

Naruto's blood went cold at hearing that. It was the last thing that he wanted to hear. But who was the girl? Kushina? No, that couldn't be right. His mother wasn't supposed to die. Unless his presence here as well as Sasuke's had already altered the timeline so much that anything was possible at this point.

"Am I able to stop this from happening?" Naruto asked as his eyes were shadowed by his hair.

"That is up to you and the choices you make," was the toad's reply. "Those choices will define what will happen which will in turn define your future and the path that you will walk."

Naruto understood what the toad was implying. In other words, he could basically end up as Obito. But that was preposterous! That could never happen to him!

"I'm sure Obito thought that too, Naruto. But it's choices that define all of us. And sometimes those choices will be taken from you and drive you to commit things that you wouldn't have ever imagine doing in a million years. The end result being that you lose yourself in darkness just like Obito did. You would become an entirely different person. So don't say it's impossible. You of all people should know how true that is. You could have given in to the hatred that you once had to Konoha when you were a boy. That choice would have turn driven you to an entirely different path, similar to that of Sasuke's. The same holds true of the Uchiha. The massacre of his clan was the focal point of his choices. But unlike you, he gave in to the darkness in his heart. Choices affect all of us, Naruto. Don't ever forget that."

It wasn't like Naruto didn't know that already. It was more like he was trying to lie to himself so that he could somehow shield himself from the reality of things. But he now realized that that was stupid. Nor was it the way that he preferred on doing things. He would much rather face his problems head on than to take a shortcut. To Naruto, it just wouldn't be right. And this was just another problem in his life that he would have to overcome.

Looking at the Great Toad Sage, Naruto simply nodded his head, a look of determination befalling his face. He wouldn't lose this all right. Not by a long shot.

"I also saw a shadowy person in your near future." Naruto perked up at hearing this. So there was more? "I'm not entirely sure how this person impacts your future, just that she will be coming to you soon with some grave news. Or rather, you will be coming to her. That is all."

"Thank you," Naruto said in sincerity. "You've given me a lot to think about."

Fukasaku, who had been silent throughout the whole thing, watched Naruto with worry. This was the first time that the Toad Sage's prophecy had been so…..dark. After all, that was exactly what the toad had described Naruto's future to be. Filled with darkness.

And it worried the toad to no end.

Aika hummed in surprise as she looked at Haru walking towards her with a black quiver filled with arrows and a bow to match. "I didn't know you were into archery, Haru."

Haru chuckled nervously with a small blush on cheeks. It seemed as if he was still a bit shy towards her even though they had been friends for over a week now. Then again, Aika realized that his shyness was just a part of Haru's personality.

"I'm not exactly well suited for taijutsu as you remember," Haru said, referring to the first day that they had all been made to spar with each other. "So my father instead decided to focus on finding my strength on something else. I decided to try archery since it's long distance. I know I have to work on my taijutsu too, just in case. But I plan on making this my main skill so….."

The boy trailed off, the blush still on his face. Boys his age had always mocked him for it when they found out that he was training to be an archer. It wasn't like he had chosen on it a whim. His father had already told him how he planned on having him master fuinjutsu along with it with the pretense of being able to have arrows coated with fire or wind and the like. That would make his shots even more deadly. But now that the boy knew what his chakra nature was, he realized that he could naturally infuse the arrows with his lightning chakra. Of course, he would need to master it which would take a while. But he was prepared for it.

Aika sighed, already sensing the reason why Haru hadn't shared with them that he was practicing archery. "You don't have to worry about us making fun of you, Haru. I can vouch for whiskers too. We already know that you're strong, stronger than any other of the guys that make fun of you. We're friends now too. So don't be worry about sharing things with us. Okay? Otherwise, I'll just think that you don't want to be friends with me….."

Haru's eyes widened as a wave of panic rushed at him. "No, no, no!" he quickly denied. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I won't do it again! I swear!"

Aika's eyes sparkled in satisfaction at hearing that. "Good."

Haru blinked, his mind realizing that he had been duped a moment later. Sighing, the boy shook his head. "You're becoming too much like Naruto-san."

"Could you drop the -san already, Haru? It makes me feel like an old man."

The boy and girl looked up above them to see Naruto leaning against the tree trunk on one of the branches with a small grin on his face, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. This was something that Aika noticed but decided not to comment on for the time being.

"T-then what should I call you?" Haru asked.

Naruto shrugged as he dropped down next to them. "I don't know. Awesome blond, badass Uzumaki, Naruto-sama. Any of those sound good to me."

Aika rolled her eyes at that. "Just call him an idiot already. That's what he mainly he is."

Naruto pouted at the girl. "That's hurtful, Aika-chan. I'd like to think of myself as pretty smart when I want to be."

"Which would be never," the girl shot back with a small grin, which only caused Naruto to pout again.

Shaking his head, Haru said, "I'll just call you Naruto then."

Naruto smiled. "Sounds good to me. Now then, let's go! We have an adventure waiting for us!" he proclaimed while dramatically pointing at the sky.

Both Aika and Haru looked at each other with a raised eyebrow. It was Aika who asked, "Aren't we going to train? Because that's what we thought you called us here for. Not to go to some…adventure or whatever. Where are we even going to go anyway?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not exactly from around here. So I thought that we could explore the island a bit. From what I've heard, there are still some areas that aren't populated. We could even find ourselves a great training spot there away from everyone. What do you think?"

The two had to admit that the idea did sound appealing, especially the part about finding their own training spot. It went without saying that both Aika and Haru cherished the friendship that the three now had, especially since they never had anybody they could really call a friend before any of this. They also realized that, even if he didn't know it, it had been Naruto that had driven the three together. After all, it had been Aika's curiosity that had first made her approach the two as well as Haru's own curiosity about the blond that had made the two talk to each other in the first place. So having something that only the they three knew about sounded extremely exciting to them. But there was something that Naruto said that made Aika a bit curious at the moment.

"That reminds me, whiskers, just where do you come from? I had never seen you before you came to class that day. And since you're the only blond on the whole village, I'm pretty sure I would have recognized you if I had seen you before."

Haru was curious about that too now that he thought about it.

Naruto chuckled as a big grin appeared on his face. "Tell you what, Aika-chan, you two say yes to my adventure, and I'll answer your question. Do we have a deal?"

Aika grinned as well. It wasn't like she was going to say no anyway. So this worked to her advantage. "You got it, whiskers. That goes double for Haru. Right?"

Haru gulped nervously at seeing Aika gain a dangerous glint in her eyes that dared him to say no to her. Finding his personal safety took precedent at the moment, the boy nodded his head furiously.

Naruto's grin became bigger at seeing their agreement. Pointing at the sky again in a dramatic fashion, he exclaimed, "Then let's go!"

Kushina scowled to herself as she continued to read the scroll on how to start mastering her chakra nature. The thing was so damn complicated. Why couldn't anyone ever make an easy explanation? It wasn't like it was helping anyone by making the thing so complicated. But Kushina also realized that she wasn't one for academics. That wasn't to say that she was stupid. She just couldn't find it in herself to concentrate during the lectures. They were so boring! Not to mention studying. Ugh! Just thinking about it made her want to take a nap instead. She didn't understand how others like Haru could ever find such things entertaining. Nothing beat actual hands on training. Now that Kushina could get on board with. Mastering jutsu, kicking some shinobi ass. It was why she was eager to graduate as soon as possible. But that thought process didn't carry the same naivety that it did before. While she had never thought of it before, Kushina now realized that a part of the shinobi life was death. Or rather, it was a major part. But that didn't discourage her from wanting to be a shinobi. Instead, it only fueled her eagerness even more. She wanted to be strong so that she could protect her village, her family.

And Naruto.

Kushina's face went beat red again when she thought of the blond and what he had told her earlier during the day. While no one besides her mother knew this, Kushina was extremely fond of stories where the princess was rescued by the knight in some bizarre but still cool fashion. She always pictured herself as the princess while imagining a handsome guy coming to her rescue. And now that she thought of it, Naruto had pledged to basically do the same thing. And it was driving her crazy. Just why would he do something like that for her? Despite what he had told her about considering her a precious friend, Kushina felt that there was something more to it. Some small part of her wondered if the blond could actually like her despite already having a crush herself on the popular guy in class. But the redhead thought that with Naruto it was different. The blond didn't see her as the clan head's daughter, just as herself.

Kushina immediately shook those thoughts away. She couldn't be thinking like that! Although she was glad that her mother wasn't home to tease her about it or anything. She would die if her mother found out about her thoughts.

Shaking her head again, the young girl went back to trying to understand the scroll in front of her, all the meanwhile trying to get Naruto's words out of her mind.

Naruto whistled in amazement as he, Aika, and Haru made their way through the largest remaining forest in Uzu. "This place is bigger than I thought!"

Next to him, Haru had a contemplating look on his face. "From what I heard from my father, apparently there are some in the clan who want to tear it down so that we can expand the village. There are others who disagree too because they think that the forest is the last remaining spot on the island where one can just be one with nature. So they want to preserve it as a vacation spot of sorts."

Aika glanced at him with a small smile from her spot on Naruto's other side. "You really do pay attention a lot, don't you?"

Haru blushed in embarrassment at the compliment. "I-I guess so…."

Naruto hummed to himself. "Well, there isn't anyone here right now."

Haru's contemplating look returned. "Yeah. Maybe because of the war. I've never been here myself before. How did you know about it?"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "I came looking for a training spot of my own a few days back but couldn't find one." It wasn't a complete lie either. Just that it had been mainly to test out whether he still retained all of his powers.

Aika raised an eyebrow. "Just what are you working on, whiskers?"

Naruto whistled innocently. "I don't know….."

It was Aika's turn to pout. "Aww, come on! You can tell me! I really want to know!"

Naruto sent her a smile that was filled with mischief. "I'll show you when I'm ready. I still have a lot of work to do, so I'll save seeing your look of amazement at the great Naruto-sama until then!"

Aika rolled her eyes in amusement. "You're weird, whiskers."

Naruto chuckled. "I know."

Haru merely watched this with a small smile.

"Oi, brat. Not to interrupt your little flirting session or anything, but something is coming up."

Ignoring the beginning of what the bijuu said, Naruto asked, 'What do you mean? There's nothing out here!'

From within his mind, Kurama frowned. "I'm not sure myself. I just felt a spike of chakra up ahead. It's powerful too. So whatever it is, be careful."

Naruto nodded at the warning. 'Thanks, Kurama.' Glancing at the two people he was with, Naruto contemplated sending them back since he didn't know what was up ahead. He was curious now, and he didn't want to pass up the opportunity of seeing what was up by sending a shadow clone. He wanted to see it for himself. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to persuade Aika into going back if he was to go on ahead. Haru, definitely. But not Aika. The girl was stubborn like that.

"Hey, what is that up ahead?"

Naruto came out of his thoughts to see Aika pointing at a building up ahead. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be an old and abandoned temple of some sorts.

Noticing this as well, Haru frowned. "I don't know. My father never mentioned anything about there being a temple or anything around here. From what I understood, it seemed like the clan hadn't built anything here. Ever."

Aika shrugged as the trio approached the entrance of the temple. "Maybe because it's been forgotten already. Like, some past generation built it or something. So everyone just forgot about it."

Naruto frowned as they stopped in front of the entrance. Aika's explanation did seem plausible. Except….

'Is this where you felt the spike from?'

"That's right. It was subtle, so I'm not surprised that you didn't pick it up. But now, I can feel a very strong chakra source in there. Although I can't tell if it's human or not."

Naruto's frown got bigger at hearing this. He was about to tell the others to turn around and go back to the village so that he could investigate this by himself later, but Aika was already walking through the entrance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked her as he ran up to her, grabbing her arm to prevent her from going any further.

Looking back at him, the girl shrugged. "We're already here, so what's the harm in investigating?"

'I can think of a few,' Naruto thought but very knew that he couldn't share them with her. It would only lead to more questions that the blond knew he couldn't answer without revealing who he really was.

Looking at Haru, Aika asked, "What do you think?"

Haru shifted uncomfortably for a moment before he answered honestly. "I don't really think that there will be a problem. Like you said, this place is probably forgotten by the rest of the clan."

Naruto cursed inside his mind, knowing he couldn't speak up. Kurama simply chuckled in amusement at Naruto's predicament. The fox wasn't too worried about the situation. At least, not yet.

Letting go of the girl's arm, Naruto simply followed behind her in silence, walking next to Haru. The blond could only hope that things didn't blow up out of proportions because of this. But knowing his luck, Naruto already knew that it was going to be the opposite.

The trio soon realized that the old temple was a lot bigger than it seemed from the outside. There were so many rooms that they had already lost count. They had already gone through the first floor as well as the second floor, finding all the rooms in those floors to be empty. Not like they hadn't expected that, except for Naruto anyway. The jinchuriki had been on guard the whole time, just waiting for something to pop up out of nowhere and attack them. But thankfully nothing had happened. During their search of the first floor, however, Haru had discovered a stairwell that let down to some sort of basement. And that was where the three Uzumaki were heading to next before they called it quits and returned outside to keep searching for their secret training location.

Arriving down the staircase and to the basement, though, the three quickly realized that it was completely different from the rest of the temple. For one, the second they set foot inside, it was quickly illuminated by torches that were placed all along the walls. The other two things that they noticed after that was the fact that the basement like room was quite huge, bigger than any of the other rooms they had seen before and that the walls contained drawings. Very elaborate drawings at that. The three inspected the walls in wonder, trying to understand what they were saying.

Inside of Naruto's mind, Kurama narrowed his eyes as he inspected the walls through Naruto's eyes. For some reason, the drawings looked familiar to him. Almost like he had been here before. But that was preposterous…..right?

Naruto's shinobi instincts kicked in when a sudden spike of chakra ran through the whole room. It was bigger than the last one, and not so subtle which was evident by the fact that both Aika and Haru were able to sense this one as well even if they didn't know what it was.

Without warning, both Aika and Haru were grabbed by their shoulders from up above, Haru's bow falling down to the ground. Naruto's eyes widened in alarm when he saw this before he jumped back just as a hooded figure came for him as well, just like the two that had Aika and Haru in their grasps.

"Aika! Haru!" Naruto shouted at them before the two were dragged through the ceiling in a way similar to what Obito could do. Seeing this, Naruto scowled before turning his attention to the thing that had tried to take a hold of him as well. "Where did they go!?" he demanded, his own chakra spiking.

The hooded figure tilted its head, almost as if surprised that Naruto could use chakra. Or perhaps that Naruto had this large of an amount of it already.

"You're no ordinary boy, are you?"

Naruto's attention went to a hooded figure that stood behind the thing that had tried to grab him on the other side of the basement. From the tone, Naruto concluded that it was a woman, an old one at that.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. "You're going to find out just how different I am if you don't release my friends this instant." Without knowing it, his eyes shifted to Kurama's crimson ones, reflecting just how much anger was coursing through him.

"Oh?" the hooded woman said in curiosity. "So you have one of them in you…no, you have seven of them. Well, this is a surprise. And your chakra…"

Naruto gritted his teeth. The woman wasn't making any sense. Nor was she telling him what he wanted to know. But before he could ask her again, the woman spoke up again.

"Tell me, boy…who are you?"

Naruto reigned in his anger, knowing that if he lost focus now both Aika and Haru could die. In doing so, his eyes shifted back to their natural blue ones.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The woman was quiet for a few moments before she let out small chuckles. Naruto's world was turned upside down with what she said next.

"To think that I would meet you in this form, Hagoromo-sama."

To be continued.....