MOTCTR:
Hello all. I'm really sorry that the last chapter was so short, but I had to get down what power I was going to give Naruto. And I can safely say now that the score was…
Focus (Bullet Time): 7
Time Rift: 3
So, Focus wins. I thank you for your cooperation and sorry to you guys who voted for Time Rift, but as pointed out by Psycho King, the complications of writing that power in would ultimately ruin the story.
I also like Focus better anyway.
And now for the winner of the contest. We had several entries, and in the end, it's a tie between:
Kalrak: His Fate-spinning and String-Spinning Idea.
True Shadow Gohan: His Antimatter Jutsu Idea.
Both of these Ideas were highly original, well within the bounds of reality, (In the Narutoverse anyway) and required an ordinate skill to use.
Congratulations to you both, and contact me for your reward.
But anyway, now the story will go along with the Focus power, and I can go where I want to go with this when and where I want to go.
…
On the plus side, the previews page has been revamped so that the newest ones are on top instead of you guys having to go through the whole thing to get to the newest ones.
"QWERTY" – Means Talking
"QWERTY" – Means Thinking
"QWERTY" – Means Demon or Inner Being speech
"QWERTY" – Means Demon or Inner Being thinking
(A/N QWERTY) – Means Author's Notes
(QWERTY) – Means translation
Chapter V: The Chronicles of Naruto! Part II!
Last time, on Naruto: The Butterfly Effect-
After another quarter of an hour and another five years being shed from his body, Naruto felt an enormous chakra pulse. He skidded to a stop and crouched to the ground. He immediately opened his link with Kyubi again, "Kyubi, did you feel that? It was huge!" He waited a few seconds for a reply. When none came, he started getting nervous, "Kyubi-teme, this isn't funny. Weren't you saying something about being serious and getting out of here as soon as possible?!?!" Still no reply.
Naruto dug down deep into his chakra reserves, and was relieved to find that all the Youkai was still there. Just…disconnected…from his body. He hung his head in relief. This was good, it meant it was just temporary, but now he needed to find out what caused it. He looked up, and was just about freaked out of his skin when he saw…
The Story Now Continues-
A man. Kneeling right in front of him. Naruto let out a girlish scream completely unbefitting of a Hokage and ANBU captain. He flipped backwards and landed on the ceiling, using chakra to hold himself in place. He drew a kunai with one hand while pointing angrily at the man, "Who the hell are you!?! And what the fuck are you doing in my memories?!?! And how the hell did you get Kyubi to stay quiet for more than a half hour?!?!?!?!"
The man chuckled and stood up, brushing his black pants off. Naruto squinted to get a better look at him. Dark black loose pants, a black under shirt, and a white over shirt, eerily reminiscent of Tenten. Naruto took a deep breath and started again.
"Okay…who are you, and what are you doing here?"
The man looked at him through his round black sunglasses. Naruto noticed he could see his reflection perfectly in them. He turned off the chakra to his feet, and dropped down headfirst to the floor, where he flipped and landed in a crouch. The man shook his arms out to show he carried no weapon. He took a step forward.
"That's far enough," Naruto said, brandishing the kunai. The man stopped.
"Naruto. I know what it is you are doing."
Naruto chuckled, "Do you now? And what exactly do you know I am doing?"
"Righting a wrong that should have been righted a long time ago."
The kunai lowered a fraction, then resumed its guard, "So you do know what I'm doing. Still doesn't explain who you are…and what you're doing here."
The man took another step forward, and this time Naruto didn't stop him. He seemed non-threatening enough.
"One wrong move on his part and I'm going to Rasengan him into oblivion." He thought. The man chuckled again. Naruto scowled. This was getting him nowhere.
"I'll ask you one more time…" Naruto said with an uncharacteristic amount of patience, "Who are you?"
The man put his fist to his palm in front of him and bowed low, "I am Seraph. Guardian of the Kamis. I am here to take you to her." There was a short silence.
Naruto was tempted to just beat the shit out of this man and get on with his very important mission, but being as he was in an enclosed corridor, ten years younger than he was used to, and without Kyubi to heal him as he went on, he decided to talk his way out.
And as we all know with Naruto, that never works exactly how you want it to.
Naruto smiled and lowered the kunai a bit, "Uhhh… Kami huh? Well…this certainly is an honor…but I'm a little busy at the moment, can we reschedule?" Seraph shook his head slowly, still locked in his bow, and looking at the ground.
Naruto gave a weak laugh and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "I don't suppose I have a choice, do I? Again the head shake.
Seraph finally rose from his bow, but kept his hands together, "I am under very strict orders. I must take you to her. But first…" here he bowed quickly again, "I must apologize."
Naruto suddenly had an inkling that something very bad was going to happen in the next ten seconds. He let out another nervous laugh, "Apologize? For what?"
Seraph looked at him thoughtfully through his reflective lenses, "For this." And then he disappeared. Naruto's eyes widened and he had just enough time to step back as Seraph reappeared almost directly underneath him.
"Konoha Shofu!"(Leaf Rising Wind) Seraph shot upwards with a kick that would have hit Naruto's chin. However, since he had stepped back in surprise, it merely hit his kunai instead, burying it up to the hilt in the ceiling. Naruto let out a vivid curse and flipped backwards, trying to put some distance between himself, and the man who he had thought was not threatening, but had just attacked him with a move that was eerily familiar…
"That's it!" Naruto thought as he saw Seraph moving into a ready position that consisted of standing right leg forward, with your right arm pointing palm up towards your opponent, with your left arm curled behind your back. "This is…Lee's Goken (Strong Fist) a fighting style that relies purely on speed and destructive power…but…I know I can beat it." He smirked and looked over at Seraph.
"From just what I've seen, you have excellent technique. But…you would have done better to pick a style I had never used before."
Seraph simply shrugged and gave Naruto a look that simply said: We shall see.
But then…he did something that was completely unforgivable. Something that no one ever did, unless they were completely assured of their dominance over the other party. And even then you never did it in front of serious competition.
Seraph beckoned him with his outstretched arm. A gesture that simply put, was : Come on over here so I can open a can of Whupass on your sorry behind.
Naruto let out a feral growl, an extraordinary ability for any person except for him, but it served its purpose. Intimidation was a powerful weapon…Just one that didn't seem to work on this man.
He let out a howl, and rushed him, creating a dozen kage bunshins without seals, half on his side, and half on the other side of Seraph. As all of him rushed to attack his stationary opponent.
Seraph eyed the attacking clones, and the minute they reached him he spun into action. Using Goken in a fluid way that both Lee and Gai would swoon at, he easily dispatched all the clones. He turned back to the real Naruto, only to find him rocketing towards him with the help of another kage bunshin, with a glowing blue sphere in his hand.
Seraph's eyes widened, as he instantly sized the technique up, analyzed the situation, and took appropriate action. He took a half step to the side, allowing the boy to fly right past him. He stepped back into position facing him again, only to receive an intimate lesson on why Naruto was called the #1 Loudest, Unpredictable, Hyperactive, Knuckleheaded Shinobi of Konoha.
As Naruto passed by Seraph, a smirk crossed his face. As the hand holding the Rasengan headed towards the ground, Naruto channeled a sudden burst of Chakra into it, and as the glow brightened, he braced himself, and hoped that the rest of his plan would fall into place.
Seraph's eyes widened in surprise as the Naruto that held the Rasengan exploded along with the Rasengan itself, creating a massive current of wind, and dust to be kicked up in the area. Seraph was just beginning to get his bearings again before he heard someone whisper in his ear.
"Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu no Ōgi: Sennen Goroshi! (Hidden Leaf Secret: Taijutsu Supreme Technique: Thousand Years of Death)" Seraph's eyes widened, and before he could spin and counter it, he felt something sharp being driven into his nether regions. (A/N: OUCH) Biting back a yelp of pain, he spun and backhanded Naruto away. He was instantly worried, however, when he saw the smirk on Naruto's face.
"Boom"
Seraph disappeared in cloud of flame, as the explosive tags attached to the kunai that had been imbedded in the ceiling, and was now imbedded in his ass detonated. Naruto gave a yelp of victory, which was short-lived as the smoke disappeared and Seraph could be seen standing there unharmed. Naruto's victory grin turned into a scowl faster than a bowl of his ramen disappearing into his mouth.
"Damm it all to hell," Thought Naruto as he panted. Ten years really made a difference when it came to stamina. Not to mention that he had been using a constant supply of chakra to propel him down the hall to begin with. As he struggled to gather his chakra to his hands for a Futon: Rasengan (Wind Release: Spiraling Sphere), he thought, "I can't lose here. I have to get back and save my precious people…and no half bit, good for nothing guardian is going to stop me!"
Seraph arched an eyebrow.
Naruto let out a primal roar and charged. Pumping the last bit of chakra into his feet, he leaped at Seraph, who simply raised a hand.
"Enough"
Naruto found himself blown back down the hall, the swirling orb in his hand snuffed out. He came up with a growl to see Seraph holding his hands in a surrender position.
Seraph nodded, "Good. You could have been an enemy. I had to make sure."
A still panting Naruto glared kunai at him, "Of what?" He spat.
Seraph cocked his head, "That your heart was pure."
Naruto managed to snicker, "You could have just asked." Seraph shook his head.
"No. You do not truly know or understand someone's heart…until you fight them. Come, she's waiting." He took a single key out of his sleeve and turned to one of the doors in the hall and opened it. He turned to Naruto, "Look, but do not step over the threshold."
Naruto strode over to the door whilst keeping watch on Seraph out of the corner of his eye. He had just attacked him so suddenly after pretending to be non-threatening. He risked a glance through the door. It was a scene where he was training with Jiraiya, during his almost three year training mission. As he watched, he ousted Jiraya to the women he was peeping on, and looked on as Jiriya suffered a massive beating. He gave a sub-concious smile.
He looked uncomprehendingly at Seraph, who closed the door. He then inserted the key in the lock and turned it. When he opened the door again, there was a solid sheet of light in the middle of the doorway. He stepped away, bowed to Naruto, and gestured to the door.
Naruto took a deep breath. It was now or never. He took a deep breath, and leaped through the portal ready for any horror that he could possibly encounter on the other side.
"Cookies are baking" was Naruto's first thought as he landed on the other side of the doorway. His second thought was how little this looked like it was dangerous. In fact…it was somehow familiar…he took a quick peek in the room next to him, and one glance at the shuriken imprinted sheets told him exactly whose apartment he was in.
"But why the hell am I in Kakashi's apartment?" Suddenly a modestly dressed woman appeared from around the corner. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch.
"Hello Naruto. You're right on time. Step this way, there's someone who's waiting for you." Ignoring Naruto's quizzical gaze, she lead him around the corner to Kakashi's living room, where there were several children doing various activities. Including climbing on a Kitsune Youkai's Ningen form's Black wing. Naruto couldn't suppress a joyful yell.
"Kitsune-teme!" He shouted, leaping forward and climbing on the wing as well. Kyubi let out a long anguished sigh. He had been sitting on this couch for the last half hour, and he had only been safe for the first few minutes. Soon the various children littered around the room had gathered around him and started asking him questions. That, and they started tugging on his hair and wing too.
"Naruto…GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" Naruto let out a meep as he jumped off and landed on the floor. He started bouncing on the balls of his feet as he could feel the youkai again, filling up his reserves. He pointed his finger at Kyubi and started laughing uncontrollably.
"And where have you been?!? Relaxing, playing with kids? Watching TV!!?!?!?!!"
"NO! I mean…Yes…I mean…goddam, it was not my choice to be here! Right after the last conversation we had, I was forcibly pulled here. And gods, I thought you were annoying when you were younger. At least then I didn't have a human form to be harassed with!"
Naruto chuckled, then turned to see what the other children who weren't playing on Kyubi were doing. He frowned, "What the hell?" Kyubi followed his gaze.
"Yea, I know. It's almost as creepy as that time when you were drunk and trapped in the onsen (Bath House) . But I can assure you kit that this isn't really supposed to make sense after all. So…time and tide…just let it go."
Naruto gave him a strange look and inspected the kids again. They all looked relatively normal, if you didn't take into account that they all had shaved heads. Also, you must disregard the fact that one of them was making a series of wooden blocks float through the air without even touching them.
Weird. "Tenzo would have a fit." Naruto thought as he moved on to the next kid, who was turning the TV to different shows just by blinking. "Even weirder."
But then he turned to the kid who was sitting in the far corner of the room, as far away from all the action as he could possibly be. Naruto slowly walked up to him. There were several pieces of formal silverware that Naruto had never used in his entire life. He was pretty sure however that they were totally useless it they were bent into impossible angles like that.
The boy who was sitting next to the silverware looked up. With an expectant look on his face. He held out the spoon to Naruto, who slowly took it. He stared at his reflection in it for a moment, and then tried to bend the spoon with his hands.
He failed miserably. He stared at the spoon. Now, he was no Tsunade or Sakura, but he was pretty damm sure that he should be able to bend one measly spoon. He went at it again, with double the effort. The spoon seemed to be doubly resilient. The boy let out a light giggle. He scowled.
"There is no way in hell," Naruto thought as he tried to keep his temper, "That I am losing to one goddam spoon!" Naruto put all his effort into bending the spoon, trying until his face turned purple. Then he let go, and panting hard, threw the spoon down at the boy's feet and began to pout. The boy let out another giggle and picked up the spoon and handed it to Naruto again.
"Do not try to bend the spoon," he said with a smile, "That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth."
Naruto gave a weary sigh. Everyone he met today was giving him the runaround with their damm cryptic responses. And to think, he could have been saving his friends by now…
"What truth?" Naruto asked, wanting to get it out of the way as quickly as possible.
The boy leaned forward and said in a conspiritual tone, "There is no spoon."
Naruto gave him a flat look. "There is no spoon?" He repeated in a flat voice.
"Then you'll see it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself."
Naruto gave him another weary look. Then he looked at the spoon. Then he bent the arm the spoon was in several times. Sighing, he tried to believe that there was no spoon.
After a few seconds, the spoon twitched. Fascinated, Naruto kept focusing at it, bending it into impossible shapes, and then…
"The Oracle will see you now." Shocked out of his concentration, Naruto looked at the modestly dressed woman who had shown him in. Then he looked at the spoon. It was completely straight. Not a single deformity could be found.
Odd.
Shaking his head to clear it, he tried to hand the spoon back to the boy, but he shied away.
"No. You have touched it. You have felt it. It is yours. And remember," He smiled again, "There is no spoon."
More creped out then when he had caught Lee and Gai in one of their trademark hugging sessions, he slipped the spoon into one of the outer pockets on his outfit, which, he noticed belatedly, had gone from tight fitting ANBU uniform, back to his black and orange track suit. As he allowed the woman to lead him into the next room, he caught sight of one of the younger kids pulling on Kyubi's silver hair, and the forehead vein that had resulted from that. He gave another snicker, and Kyubi turned to glare improbable amounts of steely death at him.
Naruto smiled and simply mouthed, "Good Luck".
Kyubi barred his teeth in return.
As Naruto entered the next room, the smell of baking cookies became stronger. He felt his mouth begin to water. I mean, time travel and fighting a guardian of a Kami can really work up an appetite. As he entered Kakashi's kitchen, complete with an autographed issue if Icha Icha sitting on the table, he noticed a woman in a house dress bending over to check something in the oven. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, when the lady put a finger up without even looking back.
"I know, you're Naruto. Be right with you." Naruto clamped his mouth shut and stood in the doorway savoring the smell of the cookies. Eventually, the lady stood up and turned towards him.
He was surprised to see that she had a very dark complexion, almost like chocolate, (A/N: I have not seen a single black person in all of Naruto. I know this is primarily because of the stereotype that all Asians are white, and Naruto was made in Japan, but still…RACIAL DIVERSITY anyone?!?!?!)
She gave a warm smile, and Naruto all of a sudden couldn't help himself, "Wait…you…are a Kami? No offense, but I find that just the teensiest bit hard to believe. I always thought of Kamis as well...different."
She held up a reproving finger, "Bingo. Not quite what you were expecting huh? Almost as if I was a really loud kid who was never taken seriously, even though I had more power than they could ever dream."
Naruto, clueless as ever, "Yea!" then gets a hint, "Hey…wait a minute!"
The woman chuckled again, and sniffed the air, "Almost done. Smell good, don't they?"
"Yea," Said Naruto, almost drooling all over himself.
She shook her head, "I'd ask you to sit down, but you're not going to anyway. Oh, and don't worry about the vase."
Naruto gave her a quizzical gaze, "What vase?" and quickly turned around trying to see if he had knocked something over when he came in. In the process of doing that, he knocked over the very nice and very expensive vase that was sitting on a pedestal next to the door. He let out a frantic scream.
"Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god, I'm so sorry about the stupid vase! I can't pay for it either, I'm so sorry! Please don't kick me out, I didn't get any cookies yet!!!"
She shook her head, "I said don't worry about it. I'll get one of the kids to fix it later."
Naruto let out a long sigh of relief, "Ok…and by the way…what should I call you? Kami-sama?"
She grinned and shook her head again, "No, no Naruto. I'm not the Kami. I'm a Kami."
Seeing the blank look on his face, she elaborated, "There are many different facets of the universe. Each one has its own Kami. There is really no superior, we just vie for more power in harmless games. My facet is time. As such, you can call me the Oracle.
Naruto nodded slowly, "So…that's how you knew about," he guestured to the broken vase on the floor.
She reached down to get the cookies and said in a slightly mocking tone, "Ah, you know what's really going to bake your noodle later on? Would you still have broken it…if I hadn't said anything." She set the cookies down on the counter to cool as Naruto sat in a stupefied silence. She gave him the once over.
"You're cuter than I thought. I can see why she likes you." Naruto snapped out of his daze.
"Who?" He asked curiously. The Oracle just stared at him for a moment before her head drooped.
"Not to bright though. I presume you know why Seraph brought you to see me?"
Naruto looked embarrassingly down at his feet, "It's because we're breaking a very important law?"
She laughed again, and Naruto looked up, "No, that's not really it. You see, I don't really mind what you're doing. Just the way you're going about it. You see, I really think that the world as you will make it will be better than the one you left. But there are certain things you should take into consideration first."
"Like what?"
"Well…" she pointed towards one of the walls, which had something that was most definitely not Kakashi's. It was a poem. One that read:
No Pity
for the hurt.
No plight
for the poor.
No pain
in doing nothing.
No soul
only body.
No sight
only Seeing
No sense
in doing nothing.
No fear
but ourselves.
No fight
but our own.
No fate
but what we make.
Naruto read it several times and then collapsed in the waiting chair while rubbing his temples, "Too many damm riddles and stupid things today. I just want to lie down and go to sleep…and maybe have a cookie or two… and some ramen...lots and lots of Ramen..."
"The point is Naruto, that I want you to focus on the last line. It is the pure embodiment of what you're doing here, and I respect that. But I also have a job to do. And that is to keep some semblance of normalcy in the timeline."
Naruto looked up with a haggard and angry expression, "I don't care! Nothing will stop me from saving my friends! I don't care if you are a Kami! You won't stand in my way!"
The Oracle stared up at him with a smile, "That's the kind of attitude that I like to hear. I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to put a few rules on what you do."
Naruto nodded and listened attentively, "Ok, the number one rule. You cannot go too far into the past. If you do, the whole time stream will be corrupted, and that's not what we want. I want Seraph to accompany you. He will tell you how far back you can go. I am going to limit it to…about three more years back. That should give you enough time to change the lives of those around you, and not destroy time and space as we know it."
He nodded gratefully, "Thank you. I promise I won't disobey you. And I always keep my nindo (Ninja Way).
She nodded, but this time with a frown on her face, "I know…that's part of the reason she admired you so much."
"Who, Hinata?"
She nodded gravely. Naruto sat up. Not for the first time, he felt bad news on the horizon, "I…can tell you some of what is going to happen. Even with you changing the timeline, I can still catch glimpses of what is to be."
Naruto bit his lip, "And…and what do you see?"
She turned away, "Are you sure you want to hear this?" He nodded quickly. She walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Hinata believes in you Naruto. And no one, not you, not even me, a Kami, can convince her otherwise. In fact, she beleives so blindly in you...she will give her life to save you."
Naruto stared into her eyes, searching for the truth. And he found it. His eyes started to sting, "Wh-what do you see happening to her!"
She looked him in the eyes, "You're going to have to make a choice Naruto. In the one hand," She held up her left hand, and he was surprised to see a chibi replica of Hinata there, "you'll have Hinata's life. In the other hand," she brought up her right hand, and he wasn't really surprised to see a chibi replica of him, "you'll have your own. One of you is going to die. Which one, will be up to you. I'm sorry kiddo, I really am. You have a good soul, and I hate giving good people bad news." She looked down at the now depressed Naruto and smiled again.
"Oh, don't worry about it. As soon as you step outside my door, you'll start feeling better. You'll remember that you don't believe in any of this fate crap. You're in control of your own life, remember? Here," She reached over and gave him a cookie, "take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain."
She gave him a pat on the cheek and sent him out the kitchen door. Once back in the living room, Kyubi rose fast and pushed all the remaining kids off of him, "Its about bloody time. While you've been having a snack, I've been tortured in here! And…hey, what's wrong? You look uncharacteristically pale. What did the old hag in there tell you?" Naruto was about to answer when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Seraph.
"What the Oracle said was for you and you alone. Now come, we have much to do." He walked towards the door. Kyubi stuck his tongue out at his back, then dissolved back into Naruto's body.
As Naruto walked towards the door slowly eating the cookie, he couldn't help but wonder about the most important and unanswerable question of all.
Why.
Kyubi said it was just Human Nature. Naruto was sorely tempted to believe him.
"Hey kit. You okay?" asked Kyubi sounding unusually concerned.
Naruto looked at the last bite of cookie and popped it into his mouth, "Right as rain Kyubi. Right as rain."
"Good! It's a fucking ocean down here! Can't you just keep your mind clean for once!?!?"
As Naruto and Kyubi got into yet another gigantic argument about Naruto's fragile mental state, they closed the door behind them as they stepped back into the Temporal Nexus.
Seraph: This is the first memory I think is suitable.
Naruto: Hey, its Neji. I should go say hello.
Seraph: Actually…
Naruto: Gahh! He can't see me! I'm a ghost!
Seraph: No you're not! We're inside one of your memories. We must choose an appropriate one for you to go back to.
Naruto: Okay, so what are we waiting for!
Seraph: --sigh—
Next time on Naruto: The Butterfly Effect:
The Chronicles of Naruto! Part III! The Conclusion!
You won't want to miss it!
Hey guys, hope this was much better. Simply the product of way to much chicken parmigan and Pepsi.
And to all you losers who said that my last chapters were too short, well suck on this bitches! Eleven pages! Ten of Actual text!
Check you guys on the flipside!
Supreme Admiral of the Commanding