Chapter 4 - Chaos

"Verily, do not cause trouble on Earth by awakening the Rinnegan. All that grows near the river of chaos are bound to be drowned. Peace, a word from a merciful Lord." Madara laughed upon reading the words from the original Stone Tablet, a relic of the Uchiha, in his hands.

"Hagoromo." He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "The river of chaos is nothing but a normal river despised by one who's home was destroyed by it. Let it flow." He set the small tablet down on his throne and picked up another piece of paper.

He studied it. Kaguya theory was truly beautiful, a dance of words and symbols, of shapes and patterns, and of so much more gave the power of creation to mere mortals.

Light footsteps alerted him to the front of the room, where a silver-haired man, bearing a scroll, nodded to him.

"Kabuto." He nodded back, "What news do you bring to me?"

"I present to you my findings." He unravelled the scroll, "The Tenseigan is needed for the seal."

"Ah, the Tenseigan? That would make sense, seeing that the Tenseigan controlled time in some way like the Byakugan." Madara stated.

"We can forcefully evolve a Byakugan into a Tenseigan by using Hamura Otsutsuki's chakra. The thing is…" Kabuto trailed off.

"What is it?" Madara questioned, wondering why Kabuto would trail off. What was he planning?

"The thing is… all of a person's chakra must be expelled for the Tenseigan to recognize it as Hamura's chakra and evolve the Byakugan into the Tenseigan."

"You, having so much chakra and being bound by it, would be foolish to forsake all of it to awaken the Tenseigan," Kabuto explained, hoping Madara would see what he was hinting at.

Madara nodded in agreement, "Your logic is sound. So then, what do you suppose we do?"

Madara didn't expect what Kabuto was to say.

"I will bear the Tenseigan."

—

Menma was wandering Konoha once again. He found it crazy how many times the layout of Konoha had changed due to various parts and places being destroyed. This Konoha, the one he was most familiar with, had parts that were rushed and inefficient due to the village most likely having to accommodate the ever-growing population.

When parts of Konoha had been wrecked and ravaged, it gave those who were rebuilding it and the Hokage a chance to use the landscape and geography and take advantage of it. In the future, almost if not all of the buildings and houses were new.

One thing stayed constant, and that was the location of the various clan compounds that housed the various clans.

Menma looked upon eggshell white walls of the Hyuga compound and felt a shiver run through him. He had always felt unnerved when in the presence of the palace-like area. It exuded a regal, royal sort of feeling when you laid your eyes upon it, something Menma wasn't familiar with.

The screech of the compound gates opening took him out of his thoughts and he looked at the doors opening slightly before a midnight-haired girl peeked meekly. The other door to her side was thrust open and a boy with long, brown hair stepped out. He faced towards the girl and she moved out onto the road.

"Hinata," Neji called her name and Menma realized who she was.

Neji opened his mouth in frustration and immediately put a hand on his forehead and sighed deeply, "Why are you like this?"

Hinata kept her gaze on the ground and she mumbled, "I'm sorry…"

Neji gritted his teeth and raised his hand in preparation to hit her but Naruto appeared in between the two and held the boy's hand in the air.

"What are you doing?" Menma asked, disguised as a normal Hyuga with brown hair and their traditional attire, the Caged Bird Seal being covered by a Leaf headband, "If Lord Hiashi finds out you raised your hand against the heiress, you will be punished!"

Neji took his hand out of Menma's disguised grasp and he shook it towards the ground in disgust. He glared at the man, "You would be a fool to imply that I would ever harm the heiress."

He bowed deeply, "Forgive me, Lady Hinata." And he walked back into the front gardens of the compound as nothing had happened.

"Are you okay?" Menma asked in concern.

Hinata rubbed her arm and nodded, "I'm fine."

"Thank you…" She bowed in genuine gratefulness to the man. She walked towards the door and held it open in courtesy.

They looked at each other before the disguised Menma tilted his head in confusion, "Hmm?"

"A-Aren't you going in?" She answered.

Menma panicked, "Oh… uh, yes…" He strode into the compound and onto the stone pathway and Hinata closed the door behind her.

"Why is Lord Neji like this?" Menma asked, breaking the silence as they walked through the garden towards the main compound.

"You d-don't know?" Hinata looked at the man.

"I've heard… things… but I don't know the truth." Menma answered truthfully.

Hinata squinted her eyes before explaining, "A-an incident occurred with C-Cloud, a-and they forced K-Konoha to hand over Father to b-be put to d-death…" She paused for a moment, "The B-Byakugan could not fall into the hands of the enemy, so Uncle v-volunteered to go in his stead, s-since they are t-twins."

Menma nodded in understanding, "So Lord Neji blames the Main Branch?"

Hinata gave a small yes, "Father s-still hasn't told him the truth."

They walked for a bit more before they reached the steps of the main house and Hinata went up the stairs, while Menma stayed a few meters away.

"Thank you, Lady Hinata." Menma bowed to her.

"T-Thank you, sir…?" Hinata trailed off.

"Menma."

She smiled meekly and bowed to the man, "Thank you, Menma."

She turned to head in, before realizing that there was no Menma in the clan, and she turned back.

In the place of the man was nothing but a falling leaf.

—

"Taking time to reflect on your actions is essential. I'm glad that you took the time to."

"Ha." Menma responded as he threw a stone into Konoha's Naka River, watching it skip.

The setting sun shone onto the flowing water as birds flew overhead and the green trees shook. Menma stared into his reflection in the water and he sighed.

His transformed red hair was shorter and no longer spiky. He was wearing the same clothes he had always worn, the black and orange jacket coupled with black pants. His dojutsu were covered by the same henge he had used for his hair, changing it into his once-normal cerulean blue eyes.

He sat atop a relatively big rock, soaking in his surroundings and bathing in his thoughts.

"Do you think Neji's father is still alive?" Menma asked Kurama as he threw another stone, this time achieving a record-breaking three skips.

"Most likely he is. Remember the medics had determined that his body had been dead for a year?"

"It was done during wartime. What if they were wrong?"

Menma felt the great Kyuubi smirking in his head.

"Plan. We break into Kumo, mess some of their shit up, steal a month's worth of ramen and the Hyuga's body, then we converse sanely and normally with Killer Bee and inform him about the situation before we dip."

Menma nodded. He skipped a few more rocks.

"I don't remember you being this open with me." Menma watched the rock fail to skip as it sank into the water.

"There is another me present. The Sage designed for there to be only one Kyuubi, and so to prevent myself from merging with the other Kurama and him merging with me, I must differentiate myself from him as much as I can." Kurama answered.

Menma accepted the explanation.

"If I can keep this up for long enough, then there would be no need for me to keep my focus up 100% of the time for any tugs and pulls since me and that Kyuubi would no longer be considered the same Kyuubi."

"Hmmm… makes sense."

"My advice- we talk to the monkey summoner about our trip to Kumo. We check his body if it's alive, and if all is a go then we take his body back to Konoha and it's a done deal."

Menma smiled and he got up from his place, before disappearing once again.

—

"So, you want to break into Kumo to steal Hyuga Hizashi's body?" Hiruzen asked, pulling a pipe and lighting it.

Menma nodded and pulled the pipe from his grasp. "How else am I going to get his body?"

Hiruzen frowned at the lack of his pipe and he asked again, "So, there also might be a chance that he's alive?"

"Yup." He paused, "Kumo didn't know how to break the seal, so they probably left his body in stasis so they could devise a plan to remove the Caged Bird Seal."

"And you also want to talk to their jinchurki?"

"And maybe Ay too. I don't know if he'll listen to me though, or maybe something'll come up. You never know."

"S-so… let me get this right. You want to enter Kumo illegally, steal a presumably highly guarded body in a presumably highly guarded facility, then talk to presumably a very, very strong Jinchurki and the Raikage who you aren't even sure will listen to you?" Hiruzen paused to take a breath, "God damn…"

"You got it."

"T-this…" the Sandaime stuttered and shifted in his chair, flabbergasted at what Menma wanted to do, "I don't have to remind you that if you get caught you'll be instantly killed and we'd go to war?"

"Psshhhh, you underestimate me. That's like a walk in the park compared to the things we had to do during the war." Menma smiled.

"Naruto." Hirzuen sighed, "Take care of yourself."

"Don't worry." Menma grinned sheepishly and walked out of the office.

—

"Wow…" Menma said as he gazed in genuine amazement, "They really don't call this the Village Hidden in the Clouds for nothing."

"You got here in seven hours. New record." Kurama remarked and Naruto gave a small smile.

Menma faced mountains and mountains surrounded by clouds, with houses and more perched on top of them connected by multiple bridges and pathways. The night sky above them was clear and full of stars while he couldn't see the ground below him.

"Can you sense Hizashi?" He asked Kurama.

"Wait.." Kurama and Naruto waited for a moment, "Ah! Here!"

Menma looked towards his right and a huge tower with multiple floors being guarded by many shinobi greeted his vision. It was at least forty stories tall, with every other tower floor having a balcony with shinobi looking out. It's blue and black architecture intimidated it, with its curves and details being sharp and intricate.

"There?"

"There. There is a chakra detection field, so you're going to have to go into Sage Mode."

"Alright, understood." Menma sat down, gathering nature chakra before placing his hand into a hand seal and disappearing, appearing onto of the tower's pointed roof. He slid down to the bricked roof and onto the edge.

A lone man was gazing out at the distance, bored and disinterested in his surroundings. He leaned on the railings 'watching' for any intruders.

Menma masked his chakra and slid behind him, into the open doors. A small room greeted him and he browsed around it before he found a map on the desk.

"Ah…" he whispered, "A map of the tower."

He studied it closely before walking outside and standing on the railings. It appeared he was on the fiftieth floor, the control room, and he needed to be on the either the thirtieth or thirty-first floor according to the map. Those two floors housed anything Konoha related.

Looking at the man, he jumped and landed on the railing of the balcony of the forty-eight floor. He jumped once again, and he jumped more and more until he reached the thirtieth floor. This time, four guards were guarding every direction so Menma needed to be discreet. He cast a simple wind jutsu, which blew a powerful wind at the man.

He cast the jutsu just powerful enough that it'd make the man close his eyes to shield himself, but not enough that the man would think it was anything other than just a powerful gust of wind that had strayed.

It was successful, and the man closed his eyes for a split second. Menma only needed a split second, and he walked on the ceiling and into the thirtieth room.

The room was filled with multiple boxes and folders of papers upon papers detailing Konoha. From pictures of various shinobi and their profiles to important landmarks and their weak points, Kumo would be prepared for a war with Konoha if one ever broke out.

Except, the fact that Konoha knew as much information about Kumo as Kumo knew about them, if not more. During the Fourth Shinobi War, the threat of Madara was seen as so great that every single secret, even the darkest, was shared between the Kage. Suffice to say, the Kage held a face of shame due to the atrocities that some of their villages had committed, but they put that behind them and prepared to fight in unison for a better future.

There was so sign of the body though. He climbed the stairs to the thirty-first floor and found the same thing, no body.

"Damn it…" He whispered, "Kurama, I thought he was in the tower?"

"He is, just under."

"Then why did you want me to go through the trouble of looking through these floors?"

"I-I felt something… and I need you to confirm my suspicions…"

"What did you find?" Menma asked.

"I have reason to believe… that your mother may be alive."

—

Madara had heard the tales of the Tenseigan, of the hold it held on time. Somehow, someway, it made reality seem like nothing more than a book, capable of turning back the pages and scratching out the words, or skipping a portion of the book and finding out the ending. It was really amazing the power humanity had been bestowed with.

Thank God for the Rinnesharingan though. The Rinnesharingan gave the beholder the ability to see the different ways and levels on how an object existed, the dimensions on which the object interacted with and something like that was invaluable when dealing with Kaguya theory seals. It was really a wonder how Naruto Uzumaki of all people had been able to construct one so complex, but with the Understanding of All Things that one would be blessed with upon wielding the Rinnesharingan was immensely helpful.

"You will bear the Tenseigan?" Menma asked, confusion gracing his face.

"Who else will bear it?" Kabuto answered, "Would you give up your Rinnegan for a Tenseigan?"

"Hmmm…" He paused for a bit to consider. If he let Kabuto use the Tenseigan, he could steal it back after. However, that came with the problem of Kabuto being able to control time. If Kabuto could reach a degree of control that made him able to make Madara and everything else freeze in place, he would die.

And Madara was not willing to give up a Rinnegan. Taking a Rinnegan out would significantly weaken his Rinnegan techniques and prevent him from using the Rinnesharingan.

He weighed his options.

All were already in place.

Finally, he was going to squash down that bug Naruto Uzumaki. He was going to make him beg for forgiveness while he destroyed everything dear to him. He had done it once, and he would do it again, and nothing would stop him.

"Fine." Madara glared at the man, not able to argue with his logic, "I expect you to find a suitable Byakugan soon, yes?"

Kabuto nodded.

—

"W-what?" Menma said weakly, "What did you say?"

"I sense a signature that bares an extreme resemblance to Kushina."

"Where?" Menma demanded, a fire burning in his eyes.

"Under. In the rooms below the mountain. The floor where…" Kurama checked the signatures around Kushina and Hizashi, "Are these prisoners of war? Really?"

"The floor where prisoners of war are being held…" Menma scowled.

He browsed the room hastily, looking for anything with Kushina or Hizashi's names on them.

After a bit more digging and rummaging, he found a page with Hizashi and Kushina's name on it.

"A Comprehensive Study into the Branch Family Byakugan and Hyuga Caged Bird Seal, Including A Comprehensive Study into Uzumaki Blood." He read out, a frown appearing on his face. He read the date and squinted his eyes.

The date of the paper read April 18, 1005. That would mean the study was seven years old since they were currently in 1012. Ay had never mentioned Kushina, but he did mention Hizashi. Did that mean the information was held from the rest of the alliance?

"It would make sense though. Kumo would not risk anything that would anger you, lest you pull your support for them. If they had told you, there'd be a chance that they'd anger the man who would save them all."

Menma sighed, "I would never pull my support for them. I suppose they'd assume that though, they were desperate. That still doesn't make me any less angry though. Did Mom die?"

"It shouldn't make you less angry. You have every right to be angry. And about your mother in the future? I don't know."

Menma shook his head and sighed once again, "Let's go. We can change things for the better now."

He grabbed the paper and sneaked out onto the balcony. He jumped off again and landed on the second-floor balcony without a sound. Avoiding the guards stationed on each side, he sneaked in and transformed himself into a woman wearing a lab coat and glasses.

Walking down the stairs, he completely relaxed and looked through the paper and read a random paragraph.

"Upon further inspection of Kushina Uzumaki's blood, it was revealed to be that her blood contained a staggering amount of iron. A total of ten milliliters was taken out of her body and the content of iron in the blood amounted to ten milligrams of iron." He squinted his eyes, "In an average man, that much iron would surely lead to many painful deaths. But for an Uzumaki, the iron seems to strengthen the aforementioned."

No one paid attention to Menma. He continued going down more and more floors, passing by multiple people and shinobi.

"Excuse me?" Menma looked up and saw a man looking at his transformed state.

"How can I help you?" Menma shifted her glasses, looking back at the man.

"You're not supposed to be here."

'shitshitshit' panicked Menma in his head, before he got an idea.

Menma sighed.

"Damn it, not again. Yes, I am. I'm a scientist in the Prisoner of war facility." She clicked her tongue in annoyance, "Damn it. I've been stopped like a million times since I've started working."

"Ma'am-" The man tried to reason.

"No, honestly. Tell your boss that either he has to tell his damn employees that I'm clear to go through or Kumo's going to lose one of the only scientists studying the Byakugan."

A look of worry flashed across his face, "Forgive me! Please go through, ma'am." He bowed deeply.

"Don't worry. It happens to the best of us." Menma smiled and skipped on forward, patting the man on the head and getting a blush out of him.

"That was pretty smart," Kurama remarked.

"Thank you." He bowed sarcastically and read through a few more paragraphs.

"The Hyuga Caged Bird Seal is the only barrier in our goal to harvest the Byakugan and reproduce it among descendants. Scientifically, the seal is made to merge with the brain, gradually causing the body to grow coils that channel into the seal, effectively making the seal permanent."

"Upon comprehensive study by Seal Master Erin Mikasa, it appears that the seal is a 'Kaguya theory seal,' an almost impossible school of sealing which techniques allow for godlike manipulation of matter and time."

Menma smirked. Kaguya theory was something he excelled in. He'd be able to remove the Caged Bird Seal.

Finally, after more stair descending, he reached the bottom floor. A sign above the door read 'POW Facility' and Menma pushed the door open and entered.

—

Naruto shifted in his bed, moving his legs and arms until he could find a comfortable position. He closed his eyes, only to open them minutes later and grit his teeth.

"Damn it." Naruto clenched his blanket in frustration.

Thoughts of Menma filled his mind. He was puzzled by the man. He had never heard of the Uzumaki being a clan, nor that there had been other people like him with a demon sealed inside him. Menma hadn't told him about the demon sealed inside himself, only a mention, and it intrigued him.

He closed his eyes once again.

It didn't work.

He felt even more uncomfortable so he opened his eyes.

"What?" He said, upon looking around. Instead of being in his room, he was lying down in water in what appeared to be a sewer.

He got up immediately and brushed himself, only to find out that he wasn't wet. Becoming more confused, he dipped his hand in the water, shaking his hand a bit, only to pull his hand out and find out it had never been wet.

"Huh…" Naruto trailed off, looking around. There seemed to be multiple openings to enter. He walked around and chose a random one to enter, navigating the maze that he had suddenly appeared in.

A growl filled the silence and he shook in fear, "W-who's there?!"

He put his hand into a seal in fear and walked around cautiously, "I-I'm a s-shinobi!"

"And that has never been more obvious." He looked in front of him and a slitted eye opened up in the darkness.

"Shinobi- no, humans are fools." Another eye opened.

"They are power-hungry, greedy, and insatiable." A mouth opened to reveal dozens of sharp teeth.

"But do you know the biggest sin of mankind?" A light illuminated the body of the beast, uncovering a gigantic fox the size of a mountain.

Naruto quivered in fear, falling to the floor, struggling to look at the animal.

"They think they're special."

Naruto screamed for the fox had roared and appeared against the bars.

—

Menma studied his surroundings and dispelled his transformation. The hallway he was in was long and narrow, and each side contained cells and cells of rugged-looking men and women. As he walked through, the prisoners glared at him and Menma struggled to not look at them. No guards? Odd.

At the end of the hallway stood a lone door. Entering, he found two glass cases atop slabs of stone sitting in the room, and papers upon papers with scientific tools on tables leaned against the wall in the room.

Tears filled his eyes. In one of the cases sat his mother. He looked at her, millions of thoughts running through his head. She looked frail and fragile. She had nothing but simple cloths covering her privates and her body was dangerously thin, the outline of her ribs showing. He walked up to the glass, tears falling.

He pried his eyes away from the sight of his poor mother and looked toward Hizashi. His body was as thin as Kushina's, if not more, and his face was bony. His eyes were closed and the Caged Bird Seal was exposed for all to see.

"I assume the redhead is your mother?" Menma turned to see a middle-aged red-headed woman, crossing her arms.

"Yes. She is." He stated and looked back, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"That's the look only a son gives to their mother. And I assume the other one is someone you know. Have you come to take them back?" She asked, dropping her arms.

"Yes. I have." Menma tensed his body at the sight of the woman walking towards him, preparing for a fight, but the woman did nothing but unlock the cases for him.

"For too long, I have been in this lab, testing and studying these poor souls…" She trailed off, looking away to hide the drops of water forming in her eyes.

She sobbed, but quickly stifled it and covered her mouth, "I-… They took me from my family…" Tears fell from her eyes, "They took m-my family's lives away… and when they found I was educated…"

"They took you." Menma finished for her.

"They did. I've been rotting in this lab for twelve years, studying the comatose wife of Fourth and the brother of the Hyuga clan head."

Silence filled the air.

"I'm sorry." That was all Menma could say.

Menma walked towards the bodies and unhooked them from the tubes and needles in them, and summoned a shadow clone for each of the bodies to carry.

He prepared to exit when the woman grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

"Please… take me away…" She said pleadingly.

Menma looked into his eyes and could not deny her request.

"Come." He extended his hand and the woman grabbed it. They shunshin'd out, now knowing the path (1) and made their way to Konoha.

All continued normally like Menma had never been there.

—

"Who are you?" The great beast asked, his eyes piercing his soul.

"I-I a-am N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…" Naruto shook, the fear paralyzing him.

"Who are you?" The beast asked again.

"I-I a-am N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…" Naruto answered again.

"Who are you?" The beast asked once more.

"I-I a-am N-Naruto U-Uzumaki…" Naruto answered once more, being even more intimated by the fox's strange behavior.

"Are you?"

Naruto squirmed in the gaze of the mighty beast.

"I-I am."

"Are you?"

"I-I am…"

"I am doubtful. There is another one of you, and another one of me."

Naruto stayed silent, not wanting to anger him.

"Speak your thoughts." The booming voice called.

"I-I… d-don't know how that's p-possible…" Naruto said, trying to calm his stuttering.

"I do not know how that is possible either. Therefore, I propose to thee, a choice."

"I… What is t-this proposition?" Naruto asked.

"Find and kill your other, and I shall grant you control of my power. If you do not, I will kill you."

—

The three Menma's and the bodies appeared in the Hokage's office, their clothes flapping, and he placed the woman down.

"Old man."

Hiruzen turned away from the window he was looking through and his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"K-Kushina?!" He exclaimed, "Hizashi?!"

He rushed to the bodies in worry, dropping everything and checking them.

"In the name of God, Naruto, what the hell have you found?" He yelled, examining the bodies and feeling their faces.

"How is Kushina not dead!" Hiruzen cupped his hand around Kushina's face like a father checking his injured daughter, and a tear fell from his eye. He did the same to Hizashi.

"Don't take them to the hospital yet." He put his hand into a hand seal and called for an ANBU.

One appeared behind him in a burst of smoke and he gasped.

"No time. No time! Get Kakashi, and get the ANBU Medical Team!"

The ANBU stood for a moment, before nodding and disappearing.

"Alright, Naruto, summon a few clones and take these two to ANBU HQ. I need you to stay here."

Menma obeyed and as fast as the shadow clones appeared, they disappeared with both bodies in tow.

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and closed his eyes. Groaning and sinking in his seat, he said, "Alright. What the hell happened?"

He opened his eyes and saw a red-haired lady standing there feeling out of place. He pointed at her, "And who the hell is she?!"

—

Naruto was thrown out, and he awoke in his bed, sweating and gasping for air. He looked around his room and clenched his blanket hard.

"What…" He said, tears falling from his eyes from the fear he felt.

It was already day. At least he had slept.

He rubbed his eyes and got out of the bed weakly, his legs shaking, and he stumbled towards his bathroom. Once there, he turned on the tap and splashed water onto his face.

He looked toward his reflection in the mirror. His hair was messy and dark circles had appeared around his eyes.

Sighing, he made his way to his kitchen and started preparing a cup of instant ramen.

"That was the worst nightmare I've ever heard." He stated as he placed the cup of ramen into the microwave, letting the water boil.

"I assure you it was not a nightmare."

He jumped out at the voice and he slid into a combat stance, grabbing a cutting knife left to his side, "Who are you?"

"I had assumed you already figured it out."

"I don't want to think of the guy who made me almost shit my pants," Naruto remarked, clutching the knife even harder.

"I suppose talking to the great Nine-Tails would have that effect."

The knife dropped and Naruto's mouth went agape, "Y-You're… him?"

"Twelve years ago, your bastard of a father saw it fit to seal me into a pathetic human like you."

His eyes darkened and he sank to the floor, "My father is the Fourth?"

"Your lack of intelligence appalls me. The resemblance is uncanny and the fact that almost no one has figured it out strengthens my hatred in your kind."

Naruto stayed silent, struggling to process the information. Millions upon millions of thoughts raced through his head.

"You humans claim to be something special. You claim to have power, you claim to be worthy to live." He growled, "You claim this is your Earth."

"But no, it is not, nor shall it ever be. You mix the truth with lies. You cause chaos and corruption, and then expect to be rewarded in the end." The beast scoffed.

"But you don't deserve to. So remember your place. Kill my other causing this chaos so we don't plunge into more damn chaos."

Naruto got up after hearing the fox's words and shut him out. He heard the familiar ding of the microwave, and after grabbing it and heading to the table to eat it, he took a chance to reflect on his thoughts.

Maybe Menma or the Hokage could help him? Naruto shivered at the thought of the beast.

—

"Sit." Menma motioned the woman to relax and be seated. The woman looked reluctant.

"I trust the Old Man with my life, so you should at the very least trust him with yours." He explained.

The woman, at first, hesitant, but gave in and sat down.

"My name is Honoka Uzumaki. I-"

"Wait… wait, you're an Uzumaki?" the Sandaime interrupted. He looked toward Menma and smiled, "Well, as it may be, we have two- no three resident Uzumaki's in the village."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up, "I know about him and Kushina, but who's the third?"

Menma rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Uh… well, that would be me."

She tilted her head, "What?"

Menma groaned, "It's kind of complicated. To put it simply, I shouldn't be here. I should be six in the future, fighting Madara Uchiha, but I came back."

Honoka gaped, "Excuse me?"

"The world fell, and I was the last one left. Hundreds of thousands of people dead and the shinobi villages no more. Effectively, the art of ninjutsu was almost wiped due to almost everyone knowing how to control chakra being killed, missing ninja and loyal ninja included."

"The whole world fought Madara. And the whole world lost." He sighed, "But that's in the past. My past. And it won't be your future."

She froze for a bit, "Wow…"

"Now that you've acquainted her with the situation, can Miss Uzumaki tell me why she's here?" Hiruzen asked.

"I was born in Kiri and I spent most of my adulthood there. When the Third Great War had broken out, I was in a village near Kumo with my family studying the great number of demonic chakra that had manifested there, most likely from a tailed beast reforming there." She explained.

"Everyone had become paranoid and seeing as we were foreigners the village called for shinobi to take me to Kumo for questioning. My family resisted their arrests and were ultimately killed." Her eyes darkened.

"I was the only one left alive. Seeing as I was a scientist, they had me study and experiment with a multitude of horrible and terrifying things, including Kushina Uzumaki and Hizashi Hyuga. Upon Kushina's death in 1000, and Hizashi's death 1005, I was forced to study their bodies for seven years."

A tear fell, "They forced me to try and find a way to have the Caged Bird Seal removed and the Byakugan took away, and a way to reproduce Uzumaki bloodline."

She put her hands forward and bowed, "I'm sorry."

Menma looked towards Hiruzen, who seemed to be in deep thought.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Hiruzen said. He bent down and opened a drawer in his desk, and pulled out a headband.

"As Hokage, I grant you Shinobi status. As a ninja of Konoha, you will have the right and freedoms offered as a citizen of Konoha along with the resources, rights, and freedoms of a shinobi." He handed the headband to the woman.

Honoka stuttered, "Wait…excuse me? You're just trusting me like that?"

"Naruto senses no ill intent in you, and you seem like a woman wanting nothing more to have a new life. Receive this hitai-ate and fight for something greater."

The woman accepted it gratefully with tears falling from her eyes and she held it close to her chest. Getting out of the chair, she bowed deeply, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

Menma smiled. Progress was being made.

—

"How are they, doctor…?" Menma asked, flipping through a file on Kushina's medical diagnosis.

"Doctor Hana, at your service." She responded.

"I'm going to be blunt," the doctor said as she configured a machine, "Miss Uzumaki seems to be suffering from injuries that still haven't healed from when she was impaled by the Kyuubi and the spot where she was pierced still has traces of demon chakra preventing it from being healed. It's not looking good for her."

She sighed, "There's more though. She seems to have chakra rejection syndrome, which is one of the worst of her seven verified conditions as of now. Due to the Kyuubi being removed from her, her signature is now scrambled, confusing the body and causing very irregular chakra production."

"So does that mean that she's been functioning on the bare minimum?" Menma asked, with worry in his eyes.

"The absolute. She would've died in a week had you not saved her." Doctor Hana responded, looking at a clipboard. She handed it to Naruto after circling something.

"Chakra rejection syndrome. Demon chakra infections. Ying-Yang chakra imbalance." Menma slammed the clipboard on the table, not finding the will to read more. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

"How is Hizashi?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Hizashi is doing way better. It seems that the scientists at Kumo took more care of his body than Kushina's. He only seems to need to regain the body fat and muscle mass lost through years of being in comatose."

"The Caged Bird Seal seems to be keeping him alive, but it also seems like that seal is the reason he's in this comatose state in the first place. Seals go beyond our expertise, so you would need to take it up with someone who knows Kaguya theory." She explained, looking at the thin man.

"I know Kaguya theory." Menma stated, passion burning in his eyes.

The doctor smiled, "You do? Wonderful! You can help us find out what's keeping him comatose."

—

"There. Draw the chakra towards the maintain kanji and then reroute it to go towards the sustain kanji atop the chakra battery."

Menma sat there in the chair with paintbrush and paper at hand, painting and writing kanji atop the Caged Bird Seal to disable it. To his right was Doctor Hana, scribbling furiously, and Honoka, with the report done on Hizashi at hand offering insight. Kurama guided him as he navigated the maze that was the Kaguya theory seal.

Menma wiped the sweat forming on his forehead and looked towards the clock on the wall. The clock read ten to twelve.

He scratched his blonde hair. He had dispelled his transformation before he started so he could concentrate 100%.

"Here. Reroute it through the eighth dimension and have it siphoned and reflected into the fifth through an apex cursor. Once it reaches the third dimension, convert it to taweel." Kurama explained as more sweat formed on Menma's forehead, "Once the nature chakra is taweel, then you can absorb it into the paper."

"It's amazing to see a Kaguya theory seal like this…" commented the doctor as she pushed her glasses up.

"It really is. I spent a year nonstop studying it near the old Uzumaki ruins after I lost to Madara." Menma said as he dipped his brush into ink.

Menma took a paper from beside him and handed it to Honoka, "Once I yell release, hold up the paper parallel to his forehead and channel your chakra into it. The paper should absorb the seal and Hizashi should wake up."

Honoka nodded and waited for Menma to say the magic words.

He grit his teeth as the brush glowed with chakra, "Three… two… one…"

"Release!" He yelled and Honoka held up the paper up to his forehead. The paper glowed brightly and a screech was heard, before the tips of the paper crumbled in her hands.

Hizashi woke up with a gasp and immediately sat up, hitting Menma square in the head and causing him to fall to the floor with a thud.

"Neji." Hizashi called as he looked around the room, trying to figure out where he was.

"Hizashi Hyuga? Sir?" Doctor Hana walked up to Hizashi with a flashlight, inspecting his face, "All seems to be good."

"Naruto?" Hizashi said, looking at Menma, "Is that you?"

Menma nodded, "It is me, Lord Hizashi. How are you feeling?"

Hizashi frowned for a moment before grinning widely, "Aha! My boy, I feel great!"

He looked at Menma funnily for a moment, "My god. You've grown up so much since I've seen you."

A look of horror crossed his face and his eyes filled up with tears, "Oh my god! Neji must be so old now!"

Hizashi grabbed Menma's hand, "Please, Naruto! How long has it been? Sixteen years? Fourteen?" He slumped, "I've missed so much…"

"I… I'm a special case. Neji is fourteen."

He held placed his hand on his forehead, "I've missed ten years of my son's life…"

Menma gave a reassuring smile, "And you won't miss anymore. Neji needs someone to guide him."

"If he's fourteen now, how come you're older?" Hizashi asked.

Menma looked towards Honoka and the doctor and grinned sheepishly, "Y'see… I'm supposed to be six years in the future."

"WHAT?!" Doctor Hana exclaimed, her scientific side bursting out.

"How? When? Did you experience any side effects? What effect did it have on you and the nature around you?" She asked, her eyes burning with passion.

The doctor asked even more questions. Menma gave a light chuckle, "It wasn't so simple I guess. I'll leave it at that for now."

Hizashi was silent for the whole time.

"Hizashi?" Menma asked, "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. I guess things didn't go so well, eh?" inquired Hizashi.

Menma nodded, "Not at all."

The clock gave a loud ding, signaling it was twelve and Doctor Hana sighed, "Let's get you out of bed."

She signaled Menma to go on one side of Hizashi and she jogged to the other. They helped him up, supporting him with their shoulders, and moved him to the middle of the room.

"Are you able to walk? If not, I'll get you a wheelchair." asked the doctor as she held him. Menma let go for a bit and Hizashi's legs shook, almost giving in.

"Looks like… no." Hizashi gave a painful smile, "A wheelchair would be nice."

Honoka ran up with the wheelchair and he sat in the wheelchair.

"All good?" Honoka asked.

He gave a thumbs-up, "All good."

Menma's chest swelled up with pride and he grinned. One step closer to a better future.

—

After an hour of searching, he couldn't find Menma. It seemed like no one lived in the apartments around him, and he didn't see any evidence of someone moving in nor did he find anyone that knew about him.

He looked up. It was noon.

"Shit!" Yelled Naruto as he sprinted down the beaten pathway towards the training grounds. He was supposed to meet his team for a training session at nine o' clock but time had passed by fast and it was nearing twelve.

After what felt like a marathon to Naruto of running, he reached the training grounds where his team was practicing and he saw Kakashi showing hand seals to a sitting Sasuke and Sakura. He watched as Kakashi executed a multitude of seals, before raising his hands and letting a dragon of water erupt from the river beside them.

"Damn it!" He ran towards them, huffing and puffing,

Thump.

Naruto had collapsed to the ground.

"Ah, Naruto. How nice of you to join us." Kakashi gave an eye smile to Naruto as he let the dragon dissipate, "I was just showing Sasuke and Sakura here a very advanced and powerful B-ranked ninjutsu."

Naruto instantly sat up and grinned at the man, "Awesome! When do I get to learn it?!"

Kakashi clicked his tongue and shook his finger, "You were late so you don't get to learn this jutsu."

Scowling, Naruto got up and marched up to the man, "I was only late one time! This is unfair!"

"Sasuke and Sakura arrived on time, while you didn't. Now sit down so I can brief you on what we're doing."

"Sensei, come on!" He stomped his foot on the ground, "I work a billion times as hard as both Sasuke and Sakura combined!" Naruto exclaimed, frowning even more.

"That doesn't mean you're any good," Sasuke remarked and Naruto huffed.

—

Kabuto studied the body suspended in liquid. The last remaining Byakugan in existence belonged to a man named Ao, who didn't have the sense to destroy the Byakugan after all the other Hyuga did with theirs.

Too bad for him. He wasn't a Hyuga. He had stolen the Byakugan from a main member had killed during the Third Shinobi War and had kept it hidden under an eye patch for the remainder of his life.

He had fought valiantly with the Hyuga, finding a family in them and ultimately being killed off with them too. Kabuto chuckled at the thought of the blind faith the Allied Shinobi Alliance held, which ultimately led to their downfall.

Kabuto recognized the significance of the body and preserved it, and thank God he did, for obtaining the Byakugan predecessor would've been so much more difficult.

The Tenseigan was his and Naruto Uzumaki would be as good as dead.

—

Holy shit, 7318 words! I am seriously impressed at how much I've written, and I'd like to give a huge thank to you, reader, for taking the time to read my work!

I've got so many cool ideas that I'm itching to use! I hope you guys like what I've written :)

marquis .shax - Thanks for reading. I changed the creation of the Bijuu to fit my story, so in this case, Hagoromo Otsutsuki created Kurama and the others with the Creation of All Things and sealing.

Cheers!

Kyakou