Title: "No Major Harm"

Author: Shaitanah

Rating: R (overall)

Timeline: chapter 411+ (SPOILERS for the latest chapters)

Summary: Look inside you, they said. Naruto looked – and got a lot more than he bargained for. Canon meets AU![Sasuke/Naruto] Please R&R!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Naruto Pilot Chapter also belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Kishimoto Masashi is too cool to be true. Lyrics from Journey Home by Rabindranath Tagore.

A/N: This insane thing started with me wondering what a meeting between Naruto as we know him and the original Naruto as Kishi portrayed him in Chapter 0 would be like. Ultimately, it grew into this. I took the liberty of developing the world from Chapter 0 because it's hard to judge what it's like based only on 45 pages. I hope you'll enjoy. In case you're unfamiliar with Chapter 0, it can be found at Onemanga . com.

NO MAJOR HARM

Chapter 1

Breaking In

The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand
streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'

Myoubokuzan

"Look inside yourself," old man Fukasaku had said. "It's a very important part of your training. It will help you understand what you really want. You will see things far more clearly then."

In Naruto's most humble opinion, he knew exactly what he really wanted. To stop the Akatsuki, to get Sasuke back and finally set to achieving his ultimate goal: become Hokage. But obviously, his toad mentor had other ideas. Thus Naruto had gone 'looking inside himself', and that was exactly what he had been doing for the past three hours.

He was never keen on philosophy, and Fukasaku's metaphors had given him the wrong impression. He almost imagined giving himself an autopsy to study the arrangement of his internal organs. Knowing Fukasaku, it could have gone precisely this way – the toad seemed to have a certain liking for the training that involved jokes about death.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a lot simpler. Fukasaku had led him to a cave on the far side of Myoubokuzan and told him to walk in.

"What will I see there?" Naruto had asked doubtfully.

The toad had knitted his bushy eyebrows and said nothing.

Eerie bluish darkness reigned inside the cave. Naruto's breath came out in puffs of white smoke, thick and visible to the eye. He gulped down nervously. The air reeked of swamp filth, but over the time he had spent on the Mountain of Wandering, Naruto had grown accustomed to dampness.

As the fourth hour of his pointless wandering began, Naruto was getting cranky. Obviously the toads here had a pretty sick sense of humour. Just like the last time after the use of the oil when Fukasaku refused to hit him with the staff until Naruto's features mutated completely into the frog's snout! Get in touch with your inner frog, Fukasaku had said.

Covered in mire and mud from head to toes, Naruto was about to declare out loud for the whole world to hear that he wasn't going to lose any more time doing nothing when a sudden movement in the mist caught his attention. Naruto stiffened. Uh-huh! With a skillful motion he extracted the kunai out of his pouch and took up a battle stance. Whoever was lurking in the mist was going down the moment Naruto saw him.

The dark shape showed up again, if only for a few seconds, but that was enough. Naruto lunged forth, greyish rags of mist floating dizzyingly around him.

His opponent blocked the attack silently. Fighting in such thick fog at zero-zero reminded him inexplicably of his first mission in the Wave Country. Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Show yourself, you bastard!"

A handful of sharp battle needles tore through the mist. Naruto moved speedily to dodge them. He produced a couple of clones and attempted to surround the opponent. One of the clones vanished almost instantly; the other was taken down shortly afterwards. It felt like the opponent could predict his actions well.

The duel continued on equal footing for quite a long time. Every now and then flashes of orange and black and yellow would blaze through the mist. Realizing it was pointless to take on one another in that manner, they paused for a short while to catch their breath.

As the mist dissipated, Naruto caught a better look of his opponent's face. It was a boy about his age, slightly lankier and a bit taller (heck no, he was just standing on an eminence!) – but altogether, they were completely the same.

Naruto gaped at him.

The same electric blue eyes. The same wild yellow hair. The same black-and-orange outfit. The same warm, tanned skin. Even the whisker-marks across both cheeks!

Fukasaku hadn't warned him about this.

Outraged, Naruto balled his fists.

"Who the hell are you!?" he demanded. "This is the lamest Henge I've ever seen! Nothing like me! And, oi! What's with the goggles? I stopped wearing those years ago!"

Come to think of it, it was really funny to see his old green pilot goggles across the stranger's forehead. He almost forgot he used to wear them. But what kind of an enemy would know such an insignificant detail?

"You moron!" the doppelganger blurted out. The voice that came out of his mouth was undoubtedly Naruto's voice which left the youth even more disgruntled. "You calling me a Henge? Take a look at yourself! Who do you think you are to copy me like that?!"

So the bastard had the nerve to insist he was the real one! Naruto sneered.

"Who do I think I am? I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the Hidden Leaf's number one loudest, most surprising and simply most awesome shinobi! And it's future Hokage! That's who I am!"

"Ninja?" the impostor snorted. "What are you, in kindergarten?"

Naruto knitted his eyebrows. This guy was positively yanking his chain.

"And Uzumaki Naruto is who I am!" he declared suddenly. "Resident of the great Mount Oinari, currently on a long-term survival training."

Naruto lowered his hand, still holding a kunai, automatically. To his knowledge, there weren't any other mountains near Myoubokuzan. In any case, he had never heard of Mount Oinari; yet the impostor spoke of it like the name should have instantly rung a bell. And maybe it did – somewhere in the deepest corners of his subconsciousness. Naruto reviewed his latest thoughts and dreams mentally. No clues.

"That training," he murmured almost perplexedly. "What is it?"

"Huh! Like I'd tell a measly look-alike such as yourself!" the stranger laughed. It earned him a glare; but Naruto wasn't about to attack again just yet. No; Fukasaku had wanted him to look closely, and that was precisely what he was going to do.

"What's that thing on your forehead?" the impostor asked, suddenly interested.

Naruto brought his hand up to his forehead protector in a brief, almost instinctive gesture. A small smile crossed his lips.

"It's a symbol. That I'm Konoha's ninja."

The youth cocked his head. He seemed to consider the statement for a few seconds and then dismissed it with contempt.

"Ninja, that's just lame."

Naruto bit his lip. "Okay, what's not lame, in your opinion? What do you do, Naruto?"

His own name, addressed to another person, suddenly seemed foreign to him. It infuriated him; he had always loved his name. It was his name and no one else's.

But maybe things weren't so bad after all. This guy just couldn't be real. The whole 'look inside yourself' quest must have meant just that. Meeting another part of yourself or something like that.

If so, this was the part of him that Naruto intensely disliked.

He never thought it could be possible.

The other Naruto scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. As he grinned a bit bashfully, the whisker-marks stretched across his cheeks, and the similarity between the two became even more alarming.

"I'm, well… kind of unemployed at the moment," the stranger admitted and then added hastily: "But I'm working on it!"

Naruto burst out laughing. The situation seemed more and more improbable. A dream. Of course! It must be a dream. A pretty strange, realistic, freakish dream – but a dream nonetheless. And if it was a dream, then he could relax and pretend things were completely normal because dreams are known for their inconsistence.

Naruto lowered himself on a moss-covered stub and set to scrutinizing his opponent's face, illuminated by the faint greenish light coming seemingly from nowhere. Silence hung heavily between them.

'Please, just say something already!' Naruto prayed silently – and couldn't understand why he wouldn't start a conversation himself. Something about this person (the person who had his face, his voice, his mannerisms, even his old green goggles!) greatly unsettled him.

"So what's your story?" the other Naruto asked at last.

"I'm on a spiritual quest," Naruto replied. 'Damn, it sounds cooler than it is!' "To, uh… master the natural energy."

A loud snort followed.

"You too, huh?"

They found themselves looking at each other – calmly, studiously, and little by little they leaned into each other, brushed their fingers through each other's hair (which stuck up the identical way), tentatively touched the roughened skin of the whisker-marks, examined the details of their outfits.

"This is so cool," the stranger exhaled almost reverently, his cautious hostility completely swept away.

Naruto grinned and laughed quietly as the grin that mirrored his own came upon the stranger's face. Their faces were so close that their breath that came out in thick puffs mixed.

Suddenly the other Naruto jumped up and raised his fist triumphantly.

"I know! Oh, wow! It's so simple really!"

Naruto arched his eyebrows. "It is?"

"Of course! Don't you see!? We look the same and bear the same names, yet somehow we are different. We come from different places, do different things… We're from parallel worlds!"

Naruto choked on the inhale. Okay, that was insane – even for Fukasaku!

"Y-yeah… ri-ight!"

The stranger seemed to be greatly inspired by his idea. He flung himself in front of Naruto, grasped him by the shoulders and gave him a light shake.

"No-no-no, that totally explains everything! Some things about us match, others don't. That's how parallel worlds work!" He seemed to have remembered something and pointed at his forehead with agitation. "Hang on! The goggles! You recognized them, right?"

Naruto pursed his lips. "That's 'cause I used to wear them before I got my forehead protector."

"Well, I've been wearing them my entire life. You got demons in your world? Demons would do something like this."

Naruto couldn't keep from laughing. He doubted that demons would concern themselves with setting up a meeting between two Narutos (unless the demons of the other Naruto's world were different and actually did have a sense of humour); yet it wasn't entirely a bad thing, and soon he was ready to thank whoever did this heartily.

Their bodies shaking with irrepressible laughter, the boys slid down into the warm moss and sprawled there, looking up at the smoky emptiness above them. Then they began to talk, timidly and warily at first, as if still conversing with an enemy and fearing to divulge too much. They grew bolder rapidly, interrupted each other, started and finished each other's sentences, laughed in unison and marveled at how the tiniest details of their lives sometimes matched, even though the bigger picture wasn't generally the same.

Both of them loved ramen. Both of them grew up alone and trying to attract attention by pulling pranks. Both of them invented Sexy no Jutsu. And finally both of them had been orphaned as a result of a huge battle shortly after their birth. It seemed the Nine-Tails existed in that world as well. Naruto opened his mouth to ask if the other Naruto was a Jinchuuriki too – but for some reason he didn't dare.

It felt good to forget the world outside the cave for a while. Naruto was sure his companion felt the same. Now that he didn't scowl or try to pick up a fight, it became obvious how tired he looked. Even… sad.

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto risked asking. "How's he doing?"

And as the other Naruto turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised quizzically, and wondered, "Sasuke who?", his world collapsed.

There was no Sasuke in that world.

Or at least, no Sasuke in the other Naruto's life.

Naruto pondered the news and the upheaval it had caused. Life without Sasuke – what was it like? Life without a constant chase, without heartache and strife.

The youth was eying him expectantly. Naruto took a deep breath and spilled their story out. The lonely childhood, the arrogance and jealousy and rivalry, the first mission, the first words of acknowledgement, the battles and two and a half years of persistent training – to become stronger, to become better, to keep up and to find him. And the last meeting, and the brief moment in the forest, and the circle of black fire, and frustration at how late they had come to the battlefield between the two Uchiha brothers…

The other Naruto kept quiet throughout the story. His eyes grew darker though, almost the colour of an evening sky.

"This Sasuke guy," he said slowly after Naruto was finished. "Man, he sucks!"

Naruto stared him. That was… unexpected. He opened his mouth to protest, not really knowing what he had to say in defence of Sasuke (because on some level the stranger was right, but Naruto hadn't thought that way since… well, since before they were friends). The other Naruto interrupted him with a hasty gesture.

"Look, friends are really not my speciality. I mean, I've only had one major task in three years; that is, to find a friend I could trust completely and bring him to Mount Oinari. I've met a handful of really cool people, but no one really fits this description. The Friend, you know, the kind that you say this Sasuke person is to you. I may not know much about friendship, but even I can see: he's not the one."

"Haven't you been listening?"

"Yeah, I have, and that's the point! Where's friendship in this? If there's anything I know about friendship, it's that it's meant to be good. It's supposed to make you feel good. This guy? All he's ever done is hurt you."

Naruto's eyebrows met in a slight frown. A moment later his face brightened into a huge grin.

"But that's the meaning of this!" he said gently, his eyes filled with that special kind of warmth that shone there every time he would think of Sasuke. "It makes me feel alive, and I'm grateful for that. If I don't hurt, how do I know I live?"

The answer startled him – perhaps more than it did the other Naruto. Both of them kept quiet for a while, lost deep in their own thoughts. At last the stranger sighed and sprang up on his feet, smiling.

"Hey, d'you reckon we could be going home now? Personally I think my quest is over."

Naruto nodded energetically. This was way more than Fukasaku could ever have planned for him to find.

He wanted to say something, to assure the stranger that maybe he'd find his own 'Sasuke' yet (it was strange to see those sad and furious and blazing eyes on a face so similar to his own), but when he turned to look at him, there was nothing but mist. Once again, it obscured everything. Once or twice it seemed like there was some kind of movement to his right or to his left; Naruto spun around but couldn't detect anything.

As the cloud of mist closed in on him, Naruto shivered. Now that was a bizarre experience…

Something slurped wetly beneath his foot. The youth squinted. The soil was gradually becoming drier, though damp mossy patches still glimmered with their ghostly greenish light here and there. The air sizzled quietly as if saturated with electricity like it happens sometimes before a thunderstorm.

When it cleared up at last, Naruto found himself standing at the mouth of a cave. The sound of dripping water vaguely disturbed the stillness.

Naruto inhaled deeply and stepped out into the sunlight – and squeezed his eyes shut promptly, so bright and blinding the light was. When he looked again, he saw a beautiful valley laid out below. Rice fields flowed continuously down the slopes of a majestic mountain ridge that dominated the skyline (Naruto was standing quite near the top of the highest mountain). The valley looked like a choppy sea of breathtaking shades of green. Curved roofs peeked through its rich masses, sparkling with the colours of rainbow whenever sunlight would illumine them.

Naruto held his breath. Never in his life had he seen a place quite so beautiful. Yet…

"This is definitely not Myoubokuzan," he whispered numbly.

His uneasiness grew as he took a hesitant step forth and nearly tumbled off the cliff into the splashes of verdure.

'Ouch!'

He climbed back on the plateau in front of the dark mouth of the cave and looked around again, still hoping somewhere inside that this might all be a dream. 'No need to panic,' he told himself decidedly. This might have been just another side of Myoubokuzan, something the toads wouldn't show him before. Then again, it could be a sacred place which he really had no right to intrude in – and if they found out… Naruto swallowed nervously – and tried to ignore the little voice that whispered in his mind that this didn't feel anything like the Mountain of Wandering.

Naruto spotted a narrow path that meandered down the slope and vanished into the moist undergrowth. Giving the cave one more tentative glance, as if making sure it wasn't going to disappear, Naruto began to walk down the path. The sun showered the fields with warm, generous light. The air was humid, though not as much as at Myoubokuzan; soft breeze rumpled the shaggy palm leaves. Naruto unzipped his sweatshirt and kept walking. For all he knew, it could still be part of Fukasaku's training.

The path wound steadily around the mountain, circling it like green paper streamer. Halfway to the other side people began to show up. They were sturdy and bronze-skinned, dressed in rough shirts and pants rolled up to their knees and wore cone-shaped straw hats to protect their heads from the sun. They stood knee-deep in the water on the flooded terrace fields. A group of women passed a few levels below Naruto, carrying huge baskets like rucksacks. One of them was singing a slow, melodious song in a bored voice.

At first the labourers seemed to ignore Naruto. They continued their work just as peacefully as before. Naruto stopped, wondering if he should ask them the name of this place. A few pieces of rock crumbled from beneath his foot and poured down into the rice. A dog that he hadn't noticed before yelped nervously. When he lifted his head to look at it, the animal whimpered and darted back to its owner, then turned its head back to Naruto and snarled.

A few labourers looked up, shook their heads and returned to work. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but noticed all of a sudden that one of the women with baskets (the one who was singing before) was now scrutinizing him. Her posture spoke of silent reproach and impatience: as if she really wanted him to leave, but didn't dare tell him to. She looked so tired and so unfriendly that for a moment he was torn between an impulse to help her or to run away.

The woman cast her eyes downward humbly. Naruto continued walking without a word.

Taking a low dip into the fields, the path soon wound upwards again. It went almost a full circle around the body of the mountain and ended before a deep gully that separated it from a nearby peak. A shaky rope bridge was spun over the gully, connecting two mountains. Naruto peered down nervously. A swift fizzy current ran there amidst sharp rocks, filling the air with jolly percussion.

Naruto took a few steps back and then leapt forward. He landed on the other side of the bridge, two planks short of the ground. The bridge shook beneath his weight, and he hastened to reach the cliff before the ropes would break. A loose plank cracked under his foot and flew, spinning, down into the abyss. Naruto released a small breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

He went on through a small corridor carved through the mountain and was soon looking upon a crater-like valley dotted with cherry-trees and peach-trees. The air in here felt drier; sweet scents were not so oppressive. Naruto came down into the valley and wondered if the locals would be friendlier or more willing to talk.

A symbolic gate with no fence rose on his way. As he passed through, not daring walk round it for some reason, pieces of paper covered in kanji that were attached to its top rustled timidly in the wind. A bell rang in the distance. An old man walked past Naruto without looking at him, his head bent low as he pulled a rickety old wooden trolley after him.

The dusty greyish ribbon of the main road led directly towards an imposing building with a high roof of five levels. It was a temple that looked so ancient that a mere gust of wind could seemingly crumble it to dust – yet at the same time, so solid and grounded as though it had stood there for ages, untouched by any disasters. A series of arches stood between Naruto and the temple. The closest one had a line of kanji engraved in its stone crosspiece:

MT. OINARI SHRINE

Naruto's jaw dropped. No way! That was impossible! Did it mean he had walked into a parallel world? But how?! The idea still seemed peculiar to him; yet it was the best way to explain this foreign place and the way it made him feel.

Astounded by the revelation, Naruto spun around and hopped back just in time to avoid bumping into a lanky bald youth wearing an orange robe, that suddenly appeared next to him. The youth dropped a stack of scrolls he had been carrying and nearly lost balance himself. Naruto bit his lip in embarrassment and hurried to help the youth collect them. To his surprise, this only made things worse. The youth snatched the scrolls away from Naruto and stared at him with undisguised animosity.

"Watch where you're going, freak!"

"Erm… sorry?" Naruto mumbled, too dazed to react to the insult. 'What is it with everyone here? Like they all hate each other!'

The bald youth rose and smoothed his robe, then gave Naruto another glare.

"I wish you'd just go," he spat with contempt. "You being here does nobody any good–."

"Takahashi!" a cool voice interjected. "Don't you have business to attend to?"

The youth's face changed at once, but his eyes still harboured the same dark resentment. He straightened his load of scrolls and walked away to join a group of identical-looking men in orange robes that had just emerged from one of the outhouses. It dawned upon Naruto that they must have been monks of some kind.

He looked around to find the owner of the voice. It belonged to a handsome young man with an imprint of boredom upon his face. His long brown hair was sleek and straight at the front but stuck up wildly at the back as if it had never met a hairbrush. He wore the same orange garment as the monks but had an additional strap of raspberry red thrown over his shoulder.

His face seemed slightly familiar to Naruto. At first he paid no attention to that (everything here seemed only slightly familiar – he wondered if it was part of the traveling between worlds process).

"What's up, Naruto?" the monk asked in a tired voice. "You're not picking on Takahashi again, are you? I think he's had enough already."

"I'm not picking on anyone!" Naruto protested. "What's that guy's problem anyway?"

The monk snorted softly. "I should say, you. He gets this buzz every summer, knowing you'll be around. Fortunately, summer's almost over."

Naruto didn't understand half of it, but that was beyond the point anyway. This new guy seemed nice. It would hardly hurt to ask him for help.

"Hey, could you tell me who's, uh… in charge of spiritual quests here?" Naruto fired off. It sounded awkward, but in his mind spiritual quests were no different from normal missions – and in that case someone had to be in charge.

The monk arched his eyebrows.

"Guess the cave's been a bit too much for you," he noted. "Let's go see the Chief. He was looking for you anyway."

'Looking for me? Oh… right! They think I'm that other guy!'

It felt strange to be mistaken for… well, for himself, in general. Naruto strolled beside the monk, examining his face from the corner of his eye, trying to place where he could have seen him before.

"Oh boy," the young man sighed. "Aren't you troublesome, Naruto?"

The ninja froze in midmotion.

"Sh-shikamaru?!"

The monk looked at him in confusion and scoffed. "So you looked so bewildered because you were trying to remember my name? Oh yeah, so many syllables!"

"No! I–. I didn't forget! It's just… Your outfit! And your hair! And–."

"Been like that for the past three years," Shikamaru frowned. "Funny you should forget that, seeing as I'm the only person who actually talks to you here."

Naruto cringed. Obviously the other guy had a really lousy life…

Okay, time to panic! Naruto shivered at the thought of being stuck in this world, in this life, in this persona. He had to find a way out – now!

"Relax, I'm cool," Shikamaru smirked. "The cave, sometimes it really gets to you."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. Some things never changed: Shikamaru had always been a nice guy, even though he hid it well beneath the mask of detachment and indifference.

They passed the last arch and entered the spacious hall inside the temple. The first thing to have captured Naruto's attention was a magnificent tapestry spread out over the farthest wall. It portrayed the familiar shape of the monstrous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that unclenched its jaws in a hungry snarl. Between its tails there crept columns of text, too small for Naruto to read from where he stood, but he figured it must have been the local relation of the battle against the Fox. Above each tail there was a small round patch with a face embroidered upon it. Nine faces altogether, some young, some old and wrinkled.

An old man garbed in a white robe was sitting on the dais in front of the tapestry. Shikamaru nudged Naruto, indicating he should come closer.

'So this Chief guy,' Naruto thought curiously, 'he's like a Hokage? And if Hokage is the coolest ninja, then Chief is what, the coolest monk?'

The Chief bore a striking resemblance to the Third. His face was noble and kind, even though he attempted to mask it with solemn disapproval in his eyes. Wrinkles and also several vertical blackish lines that might or might not be scars distorted the smoothness of his features. His jet-black hair, streaked profusely with grey, stuck up in a funny way, and so did his beard.

The Chief cleared his throat.

"So, Naruto. Let us check this summer's statistics, shall we? Foolish pranks pulled – eighteen. Cruel jokes played – one. Insulting the villagers – too many times to count. Vandalizing the property of the shrine – twice. Annual vandalizing of the memorial tapestry – once. As you can see," he pointed at the tapestry significantly, "we have already fixed it. Now I've been wondering about this year, Naruto. Why so tame?"

Naruto stared at the Chief blandly. That strongly reminded him of himself before he graduated from the Academy. Terrific! Not only did the other Naruto continue with that obsolete fashion, wearing the goggles, but he was also a huge pain in the neck for everybody. No wonder the whole Mount Oinari seemed to hate him.

'Definitely not staying here.'

"Is he all right?" the Chief asked, misled by Naruto's silence. Shikamaru shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

"Must be the cave."

"Oh yeah, about the cave–!" Naruto blurted out, but before he could continue, the Chief thundered:

"Don't tell me you've vandalized the cave as well!" Naruto shook his head in bewilderment. The Chief hunched his shoulders and breathed out: "You're going to be the death of me, brat. It hasn't been a day in these sixteen years that I haven't cursed myself for taking you in."

Seeing the tired, mellow look on his face, it wasn't easy to believe this statement. Naruto grinned cheekily.

"Nah, you don't think that!"

"Of course I don't! Never in my life have I questioned my own reason!"

Naruto snorted. He was beginning to like the geezer.

"Well, I can see the experience you had in the cave has affected you," the Chief said contentedly and went on, preventing Naruto from asking his question again: "Seeing as it is the last day of summer, I would rather have you leave now before you have reverted to your usual self and given us a parting gift to remember until the next year. You can collect your payment for the summer work at the Treasury. Bye-bye!"

'Screw respect!' Naruto thought, not planning to give up so easily. 'It's my dreams that are at stake here.'

"Listen here, old man!" he bellowed as he jumped up to the dais and grasped the Chief by the front of his robe. "I only need to ask you one question and I damn sure want a straight answer! When I was in that cave, something happened to me–."

The Chief's hand flew up and shut Naruto's mouth. "Don't even try to tell me what you saw! That is for your eyes only, and I will not have you infringe upon the ancient laws again!"

"Oi, geezer!" Naruto exclaimed, exasperated. "I wasn't gonna tell you anything! I just need to know if there's any way I could repeat the thing that happened to me there."

They stared at each other for a long intense moment. Shikamaru, whom they had already nearly forgotten about, rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Oh, bother."

"It won't work," the Chief said gravely.

"But–."

"No buts."

"And if I–?"

"No."

"But–!"

"No!"

"But I need it to work!" Naruto whined.

"I said no!" the Chief exclaimed.

'Okay, to hell with this! I'll just go and see for myself!' Naruto thought stubbornly.

He rushed out of the temple, ignoring the Chief's scream. He ran at his top speed through the arches and the gateway and the corridor, over the gully, up the winding path past the rice fields – until he finally reached the cave. He broke in, looking around wildly.

Nothing. No mystic fog, no sudden cool breeze – just a small, dry, low-hanging mountain cavern.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

Stuck. Here. In this unfriendly strange world in a monastery where everyone seemed to hate him. Back in the vortex of loneliness. Without his fellow shinobi, without his battles to fight.

Without Sasuke.

Naruto gritted his teeth. Ha! Like he would voluntarily let it happen!

The passage must have sealed itself off after he exited the cave. So what? Naruto would just have to make a new one. A clone popped up next to him; together they began moulding the Rasengan.

"Won't work, huh?" Naruto scowled. "Watch me!"

He drove the shining blue sphere into the hard rock, boring deep into the heart of the mountain. Chips of rock bounced back in his direction. There was nothing. A low growl gurgled at the back of Naruto's throat. He would not give up!

Blinded by sudden fear, he continued delivering the blows. He hadn't mastered the natural energy yet. He hadn't avenged Ero-sennin. He hadn't kissed Sakura-chan, for heaven's sake! Hadn't brought Sasuke back! Hadn't become the Hokage!

He could not stay here!

Someone grasped him by the shoulders and pulled him back. He released the half-finished Rasengan; it skidded over the deformed wall of the cave, tossing the shattered pieces of stone all around him. Naruto fell backwards, throwing punches without looking. His opponent straddled him, restricting his movements. Naruto sniffed. Something warm and wet dribbled down his lips, and his nose hurt.

"What do you think you're doing?" his opponent growled. As the smog cleared away, Naruto recognized Shikamaru.

"Get off me!" he blurted out.

"Not before I see you have calmed down."

Naruto willed himself to relax. He had never felt so powerless in his life.

"You don't get it," he said wearily. "I'm not from around here! This may seem crazy, but I really need to get back. It's a matter of life and death."

To his surprise, Shikamaru instantly released him.

"I know."

Naruto scrambled back on his feet and stared at him in astonishment. "You do?"

"Of course you're not one of us, Naruto! But face it, you can't get back now. And the Chief told you the truth: the cave only works once. This isn't your way anymore."

Naruto slammed his fist into the ruined wall angrily. Shikamaru caught him by the hand when he intended to it again and smiled sympathetically.

"But what can I do?" Naruto whispered in a choked voice.

"Wait, I guess. In the meantime, here's your fee." The monk produced a weighty purse and handed it to Naruto. "Go back to the city, do what you do all year round and come back next summer. The answer will come to you when you least expect it."

Naruto smiled in spite of himself. This world sure did some changes to Nara Shikamaru!

Clutching the purse in his hand incoherently, Naruto dragged himself back on the winding path – and there it suddenly hit him. He looked over his shoulder, slightly embarrassed, and drew out:

"Uhm… which way exactly is the city?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

The road to the city was long and took several hours. Shikamaru had walked him down to the village where an old man agreed to drive him on his old tinkling cart. By the end of the uncomfortable ride Naruto's body ached all over. He decided that next time he should run because clearly he could run much faster than the cart went.

The old man put him off silently at the foot of the mountain range and trudged on. After a while the sound of his cart died down in the distance. The sun blazed high in the sky, and the last summer heat shivered on the ground.

Naruto stuck his hands into his pockets and walked slowly along the dusty road. He wondered if people farther from Mount Oinari who didn't know him would be as unwilling to show him the way. So far, however, there were no people at all.

A shabby wooden building found room for itself on the roadside. It had only one wall; a few pillars made of whole tree trunks supported a holey roof laid out with palm leaves. Behind the building, as far as the eye could see, there stretched low bushy hillocks.

Something beeped behind Naruto. He looked back and jumped to the roadside instantly. An old rusty transport wheeled heavily towards the wooden building and stopped right next to it. Naruto had never seen anything quite like it. The door opened by itself, and Naruto saw a gruff-looking man with a cigarette clenched between his teeth. The man looked at him indifferently and asked hoarsely:

"To the city?" Naruto nodded. "Well, get in. Watcha waitin' for?"

Naruto craned out his neck. He could see people sitting inside the transport through its turbid windows. Fighting off his doubts, he climbed inside. The door slid shut behind him. The driver cleared his throat and pointed at a small price-list that was plastered to the windscreen. When Naruto counted off the required sum and strolled to the seat, the transport swayed and moved on. It was rather unexpected and the noise was overwhelming. Naruto gripped the handrail under the ceiling to keep on his feet and slowly lowered himself on the empty seat at the back. Leaning his shoulder against the window, he watched as the scenery changed around him and tried to be more optimistic about his situation: after all it was a whole new world, the likes of which no one among his peers had ever seen.

'I'll find a way back,' he told himself confidently. 'I will for sure! After all, I'm the most awesome ninja in the world. And I probably deserve a little vacation. Besides, it's a new place, so maybe time here flows in a different way. I might come back in a month and see that it's been only a minute at Myoubokuzan. You wait for me… Sasuke.'

The heat and the monotonous tinkling of the clumsy transport in addition to these thoughts lulled Naruto to sleep. He woke up a while later, having been snapped back to reality by a lengthy honking. One by one the passengers were leaking out of the transport. Naruto rubbed his eyes wearily, sprang up and darted out in the street.

His breath caught in his throat.

Long after the strange transport was gone, he still stood at the crossing of the street, staring wildly at the life boiling up around him. This was by far the biggest town Naruto had ever seen. Its streets were paved with something akin to stone, and hundreds of wheels ploughed them at full speed. Crowds of people hurried to and fro; loud music pealed elsewhere; all kinds of smells flowed in the air, and the buildings were so tall Naruto couldn't see their tops. He gaped at the landscape around him, unable to believe this was not a dream.

"Wow," he breathed finally.

That was all he could say for now. The thing that bothered him most was how he would find his apartment in the city so big.

His stomach made a low grumbling noise, reminding Naruto that he hadn't eaten anything since morning. Since… Myoubokuzan. Naruto compressed his lips. Seemed like it was so long ago…

A signboard shone affably across the street. Naruto looked closer and cried out with joy. It said:

ICHIRAKU RAMEN

A huge grin lit up Naruto's face. He darted across the street, narrowly avoiding collision with one of the cars. 'Ha-ha, well, looks like it's gonna be easier to survive in this world than I thought!' he said to himself cheerfully, flopping on the seat at the counter.

"Hey, old man!" he called. "May I have–?"

A bowl of steaming miso-ramen was placed cautiously in front of him. Naruto goggled his eyes at the smiling bartender.

"Saw you as soon as you got off the bus, Naruto," the old man explained. "Figured you'd drop by. Always a pleasure when a regular returns after a two-months break."

Naruto smiled coyly. The ramen proved to be just as delicious as he remembered it; that lightened his mood considerably. The old man acted amiably and asked him questions about his summer. Naruto wondered if he knew where he lived by chance – though asking a near-stranger such a question would look really stupid.

As his meal was over, his face darkened again. The day was drawing to a close, and he had no idea where to go in this boundless city. He could rent a room, but he didn't know how many nights his money would cover. And the prospect of living in the street was less than appealing.

"Hey, Ichiraku! I'm on the rocks today," a female voice called. A woman, whom Naruto had been too distracted to notice before, was rummaging through her purse with a doomed expression. "Mind if it's on credit?"

"You're always on the rocks, Utagawa-san!" the old man laughed from the kitchen. "You know where the book is."

The woman chuckled, reached behind the counter and produced a small book in soft cover. Vaguely interested, Naruto leaned closer to look over her shoulder. The book contained a list of names and addresses and sums their owners apparently owed for dinner. Naruto was about to turn away when a set of familiar syllables captured his attention. He snatched the book away from the flabbergasted woman and peered at the address insatiably.

"Mind your own business, brat!" the woman said, coming to her senses, and reclaimed the book.

Naruto flashed her a mad grin, tossed the money on the counter and hurried back into the crowded street, crying out, "Thank you!" to no one in particular. Utagawa-san saw him off with a strange look.

According to the questioned passers-by, the street where Naruto's house was located wasn't very far from the ramen shop. Nevertheless, it was almost nightfall when he finally stood on the doorstep of his apartment, tired, annoyed and sleepy.

It was a compact two-storeyed building that accommodated two flats on the second floor. The one on the left belonged to Naruto. He tugged at the door hesitantly, but of course it was locked. He wondered if his own key would fit (miracles happened, after all), but it didn't. Naruto took out a kunai and picked the lock with its sharp tip. In the middle of the process he spotted an old lady in a variegated gown who was eyeing him in confusion.

"I live here," he suggested, not really knowing who he was trying to convince: her or himself. The woman snorted like that was to be expected of him and vanished into the flat on the right.

Finally the lock gave in. Naruto barged in and trotted into the bedroom without bothering to look around. The flat was no bigger than his and hardly different at all; he decided any further exploration could easily wait till morning. The room was a bit stuffy, so he opened the balcony door, collapsed on the bed and instantly fell asleep. A small part of himself retained hope that it might all be a dream.