In the end, there was no hope.
The lands were ravished and most of the people were gone. Not even the animals seemed to be spared.
The goddess wanted her chakra back and she was determined to have it. The remaining few knew there was nothing left to do, but give in. But what are humans, but bodies filled with egos, determination, and desperation.
There were very few of them left.
Many of her friends had died before the goddess was even released. Neji, Tenten, Choji, Gai, Inoichi, Shikaku Tsunade, and Gaara… Friends and family lost to the initial war. It only got worse from there. Slowly, but surely, the rest of her chosen family started to disappear from her life. Stolen from her by a selfish and vindictive woman.
She had just lost Lee a few days ago as he fought off an army of white Zetsu so that the rest of them could escape. He told her he was okay with this death. It would allow them to live and he would be able to see his beloved team again.
Naruto sighed tiredly. She wished she could say she cried, but she had no more tears to give. Only a prayer that what her friend wanted, came true in the end.
But that was a few days ago.
Now, the only ones of her precious people that were left were Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kurama, Obito, and the reanimated body of her father. And she knew that, soon, she would probably lose them as well.
For now, they had made their great escape. With the help of a makeshift boat and some seals, they had made it to the waters of Wave Country and crossed the perilous, whirlpool filled waters into Uzushiogakure. The only thing that truly kept them safe was Hinata and Naruto’s affinities for water chakra and Naruto’s Uzumaki blood. She had gripped the edge of the ‘boat’ so tight that the wood bit into her palm and caused her to bleed. The waters seemed to calm a bit after getting a taste. It was then that most of them realized that the destruction of Uzushio had to have been either an inside job or something far more sinister.
They stepped off their boat and onto the beaches. And while the others went on ahead to scope out the ruined village for suitable shelter and food, Naruto and her father were left standing in the sand, the Jinchuriki trembling with rage. Minato laid a comforting hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“No one could be bothered to come here and lay the dead to rest.” Uzushio had been destroyed. The village was left in ruins… The dead were left in the sand. When her precious Konohagakure had been destroyed, Naruto had risked her life to go back and lay who she could to rest in a funeral pyre. But Uzushio was Konoha’s sister village and no one had bothered, in all of the years, to make sure that their fellow shinobi and citizens had seen a proper burial. Just left them to the sands and sun.
Minato hung his head. “I’m sorry, Naruto… Kushina. If I had known the Sandaime hadn’t seen to it himself, I would’ve come here personally to have it done.” He felt like he had failed his wife and daughter… More than he already felt, anyway.
Naruto bent to kneel in the sand and carefully picked up the skull of what seemed to be a fallen Uzushio shinobi. She was quiet for a long while, just wondering about who the poor soul could have been before they died. Finally, she spoke up.
“I will collect the remains of the dead and lay them to rest in a pyre on the far side of the island. Please let the others know that I would like to be left alone until then.” She created a few clones that set out to work. But before the real her could start the task as well, she felt her father’s gentle hand on her cheek, turning her head to make her look at him.
“I will never leave you alone. Not again. We will do this together.” He placed their foreheads together for a brief moment before pulling away and moving to sift through the sand for bones to collect, creating a few clones himself.
They worked quietly throughout the day and well into the evening. The rest of their group were scarcely seen except for when they were handing off scrolls with bodies that they had found themselves. No words were exchanged. Just quick, mournful glances. Shikamaru always seemed to be able to find the real Naruto when he was handing over scrolls. He would always brush his fingertips against the backs of her hands before disappearing into the shadows again.
The two had gotten closer during the war. They had spilled their souls to each other, surprising themselves about their choice in confidante. Shikamaru had a more analytical mind, so he always thought he would end up breaking down to Kakashi, as he was someone who was logical and reminded him of his father some, and would be able to talk him through his troubles. And it was no secret, Naruto’s love for Sasuke. He was her best friend and her brother. It was more likely for her to turn to him with her woes. Or at least Sakura or Hinata.
But that’s not what happened. They chose each other. No matter how unintentional.
They were out hunting for possible food and scouting for white Zetsus when they were suddenly surrounded. Shikamaru had taken a hit and was trying to convince Naruto to just leave without him and she ran with him hanging off her shoulder. He told her that he would hold them off. She was their powerhouse. He knew that she and Kurama were important pieces to survival. He needed them to live. But Naruto thought the opposite. Shikamaru was their tactician. Even if she could not go on, she knew he could help the others through anything. To her, he was one of the most important people. So it enraged her to hear him speak of sacrificing himself.
She created a clone and was quick to hand off the dark haired shinobi, mumbling about a cave system she knew was not too far from their current location. Shikamaru started to argue, getting angry himself, but Naruto would hear none of it.
She turned to give the shadow user a scathing look. “We will discuss this later.” She said with a growl in her voice.
Shikamaru was surprised, but said nothing more. He just nodded his head and surrendered himself to being whisked away. It was only hours later, after his wounds had been cleaned and the clone was able to feed him, did Shikamaru get to see the real blonde again. She looked tired and singed, but unwounded. Her clone handed over what little food and drink was left before dismissing itself. She was able to eat it quickly and in silence before the man who sat across from her finally just snapped.
Words were exchanged between the two that were surely regretted later on, but words were also spoken that they both needed to hear and say. Shikamaru spoke of his regrets, fear, and feelings while Naruto spoke of her own fears, anger, and dwindling self-worth. They both spoke of the hopelessness that they felt.
They found solace in each other that night. And what started out as clumsy hands and desperation, slowly turned into lingering touches and the budding feelings of love. Which is how Naruto ended up curled into a ball with her face shoved into the dark haired shinobi’s chest with his arms wrapped securely around her as she slept after the funeral pyre.
They had found shelter in what used to be a library. It was one of the only buildings that didn’t seem to be in complete ruin. They had set up what few bedrolls they could find around a small fire that they had created in the center of the room, ventilated through a hole in the roof. Naruto and Shikamaru shared a bed roll while Kakashi and Obito also laid side by side. Sasuke looked surprisingly content laying between Sakura and Hinata as they rested their heads on his shoulders. Minato, being a reanimated corpse, had no need for sleep and took post against a shelf as he read through what scrolls were left in the room. They were resting quietly for a bit, but the silence was eventually broken.
“We cannot continue on as we have been. Resources are limited and Kaguya will find us again soon enough. There is nowhere to run on the island. Nowhere to truly hide. And even if we stood our ground and fought, even if we were able to defeat her, who is left in this ravaged land that we have to fight for besides each other?” Obito spoke in a quiet tone as he sat up to stare into the fire. No one seemed to have an answer for him, but everyone seemed to hold each other a little tighter.
After a moment of quiet, the room suddenly started to get hotter and Naruto squirmed a bit in Shikamaru’s hold as Kurama’s chakra spilled its way out of the seal, forming itself into a miniature version of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He had done this many times in the past after Naruto unlocked his seal so that he could come out and speak to the others freely.
The little fox stretched and brushed his body against Naruto’s back before turning his attention to the older Uchiha.
“Ever since her escape from the moon, my siblings and I have been discussing the matter.” Kurama’s deep voice coming out of the little fox always sounded weird to the Konoha shinobi, but they were used to it by now. “She was powerful. Too powerful. The Sage feared her and made sure we all knew how truly terrible it would be for her to roam this world again. Long ago, before we were all captured and turned into weapons for you humans, we had come up with a plan. One that would work in theory, but would take a significant amount of chakra to pull off and would only be succeeded by one or two of us.” The fox pawed at the locks of Naruto’s golden hair that had grown to about the same length as Hinata’s as time had passed. Once he was sure he had every awakened shinobi’s attention, he settled down against Naruto’s back and huffed in contentment when Shikamaru buried his fingers into soft fur to pet it. “We contemplated the possibility of time travel. Of using space-time ninjutsu to stop the rabbit goddess from coming to be again. Chakra is easy to send away and we believed that it would work, but then there was the possibility that it wouldn’t. That one of us would make it back to the appropriate time and would be overwritten by our younger selves and that the task would have been for naught.” He sighed. “So, then, we contemplated sending a shinobi back. If they went back far enough, they would not be interfering with their own existence and would maybe be able to succeed. But then we were captured and our hatred for your kind increased and we gave up on this plan… Until now.” He lifted his head to look back at his host and her, lesser in his opinion, boyfriend. “We have been talking and we would do it for her. For Naruto.” He turned to look at Minato. “But we could never complete the how of what we were trying to accomplish. But we are here in Uzushio now. Where the world’s greatest Fuinjutsu users originated and made it their business to complete impossible tasks. And we just so happen to have the leading expert in space-time seals and ninjutsu here with us today. I’m sure, with the help of your daughter and any leftover scrolls here in the village, you can create a seal that can accomplish this feat. And I, and my siblings, will power it willingly. Even if there is only a portion of our power left, I’m sure it would be enough to send one and maybe two of you back a significant distance.”
There was a moment of silence before Obito let out an angry huff. “Thank you for that fantasy of a bedtime story, fox. I’m sure to sleep well knowing that tomorrow may as well be my last.”
Kurama growled. “As much of a fantasy as your dead sensei sitting in the same room as us now. As much of a fantasy as you becoming the Juubi Jinchuriki and surviving its extraction. As much as a fantasy as the malevolent goddess who roams the land with her plant minions, hoping to drain your chakra away from you.”
Minato let out a distressed laugh before standing abruptly and heading towards the door. “You all get some sleep. I’ll see what I can come up with.”
Obito glared at the fox. “You’re really having Sensei waste his time with this?”
Kakashi let out a sigh and pulled the blanket up and over the Uchiha’s head. “Just go to sleep, Obito. Besides, Sensei has all the time in the world.” And with that, nothing else was said for the rest of the night.
***
It was a couple of months before anything was actually discovered.
They trained and cleaned up the island, but tensions were high. It felt odd that Kaguya hadn’t come for them yet. Everyone was driving themselves crazy with the thought. Was she toying with them or did she really not know where they were?
Naruto found a few hidden, underground rooms that only opened up to her Uzumaki blood on a seal and was able to find a ton of scrolls and books on Fuinjutsu that she happily showed to her father. She created clones and the both of them studied to their heart’s content. Naruto even found scrolls on the barrier that protects Uzushio. Apparently, it harnesses sage energy to keep the whirlpools going and puts up a type of force field around the island that hides chakra. It was designed so that enemies would never know what type of forces lay in wait on the other side, which may explain their small reprieve. It was also made so that the only people who could get through were the families that made up the island and anyone whose blood was keyed in later.
Which meant there was definitely foul play when it came to the destruction of the island and its people. Naruto wondered if she even wanted to know who the betrayal lay with. Wondered if it would do her mental wellbeing any good. So she threw herself into her Fuinjutsu studies and helped her father search for any clue on what Kurama spoke of being viable.
They caught a lucky break when Naruto found another hidden room in the Uzukage’s tower. It held many secrets and told the history of Uzushio and each family that called the island home.
Naruto looked into the Uzumaki first, of course, and learned that the last Uzukage, Uzumaki Arashi, was forced to marry his distant cousin, the daughter to the daimyo, in a political marriage after his first wife and child died by poisoning. His second marriage is what resulted in the birth of Naruto’s mother, Uzumaki Kushina and her younger brother Uzumaki Ryu.
Minato was surprised. He never knew that Kushina had a brother. He actually wondered if the woman knew herself and if that’s why she never told him. But he and Naruto were even more surprised to learn that the woman who was Arashi’s wife before the political marriage. Was a woman who went by the family name Namikaze.
Namikaze was definitely not a family name for any of the islanders. In fact, Minato knew that his lineage lay in a village not too far from Kumo. Maybe the Uzukage had met a one off member of Minato’s family and gotten married. They put the thought aside with the promise to come back to it later.
They learned more about the Uzumaki clan being related to the Senju and Uchiha clan through the Otsutsuki clan and about how Uzushio and Fuinjutsu were created.
They caught a lucky break when the second family they looked into was the Hoshizora clan. Or more importantly, Hoshizora Sora, the creator of the offshoot Uzumaki clan who specialized in seals meant for transportation. In other words, a specialist in space-time ninjutsu and seals. Coded copies of his journals were found in the hidden room where Minato sat for hours to read through them while his daughter followed along at a slower pace. She was, by no means, stupid, but she was not as quick with learning and reading as her father. She also got tired, unlike the reanimated man. There were many nights where Shikamaru, Hinata, or Sasuke had come looking for them and found Naruto asleep with a book hanging loose in her hand and her head on her father’s lap. The man would slowly untangle his fingers from her golden hair and set the book aside so that her friends or boyfriend could take her to bed. He would give a quiet thank you before continuing his reading.
A few weeks later was the first night in a while that the group had Minato actually join them for dinner. They sat on the beach under the stars with the fire cooking the fresh fish they had managed to catch that day. The entire group glanced up and gave small smiles when they heard the barely there steps in the sand from the former Hokage. He sat down gracefully next to his daughter and bumped shoulders with her as she picked at the fire in front of them with a metal stick. Naruto huffed and leaned into her father’s side. Shikamaru, on her other side, didn’t seem to mind at all.
There were quiet murmurs as everyone talked amongst themselves until Minato finally decided to speak up.
“I’ve figured it out. A seal that can help us traverse through time. Just like Kurama said.” His voice was quiet, but it was heard by all of them. They group stopped their conversations and looked at the blond man over the fire. Even Kurama came out of his seal to settle himself into Naruto’s lap and listen. Minato sighed and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “It’s a seal that has only been used by the Hoshizora clan once and is confirmed to work. The downside is how much chakra it takes to attempt. The amount is so significant, that the one person who used the seal went into a coma and almost died. And even then, they only succeeded in sending someone back to the day before. The seal was then labeled a Kinjutsu and locked away to keep anyone else from attempting it.”
Kurama huffed. “Well I have a significantly more amount of chakra than you worms. And I’m ready to give it all up. My siblings have their portions that they’ve provided to Naruto as well. You will get to where you need to.” He blinked lazy eyes at the blond. “So…what are the rest of the conditions?”
The slight building of excitement in the group at the thought of the out-of-the-box plan possibly working simmered down quickly with Kurama’s question.
“You wouldn’t be here explaining this to us with such little enthusiasm if there wasn’t something else involved. So what is it?” Kurama grumbled.
Minato was quiet for a long moment as he stared into the fire. He knew his daughter had high morals. He knew what he was about to say might hurt her a bit. He felt like crap for even having to bring up the suggestion. The only thing that pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts was a hand reaching over to grab his own and intertwine their fingers together. He looked down at his cracked, pale skin, and compared it to the smooth, tanner hand of his daughter’s. He gave a squeeze back and steeled himself for the rest of this discussion.
“If we were sending someone like Kurama back, then we wouldn’t have to worry about this other condition. He is already only made up of chakra. There’s no body to be involved. We would just send him back and he would just assimilate with his past self and that would be the end of it. But as we’ve discussed, we can’t take this option because it would take the majority of his own chakra to send him back far enough to make a difference. By the time he got to that point, he wouldn’t have enough chakra to merge with himself and be the more dominant soul. He would just be absorbed and this would have all been for naught.” Minato started to fiddle around with Naruto’s fingers. “So, we would have to send one of us back. But the issue is that we are not made up of only chakra and a soul. Neither now or at any time in the past. We cannot just send ourselves back and hope for the best. The only way to do this right would be to send us back to our past bodies. And the only ones who could do that and actually make a difference are either me, Kakashi or Obito.” He let out a chuckle. “And I don’t know about the two of you, but I enjoyed the way I lived in the past. To have to take that life away from myself… To essentially take away my own life. I can’t do that. It may not have been the longest or the best, but it was fulfilling.
Naruto squeezed her father’s hand again and there was a moment of silence before Kakashi decided to speak up.
”I agree with you, Sensei, but is there any other option for us?” They all looked at the undead Hokage solemnly, but eagerly.
“There is one other option.” Minato said quietly. This is the part he knew his daughter would disagree with. He turned his head so that he could look at her in her blue eyes that were the exact same shade as his own. “Naru-chan, do you remember when we first started looking into the families that lived on the island before the fall? And how we found out that the Uzukage was married to a woman by the name of Namikaze before he married your grandmother?” With her confirming head nod he continued on. “If you remember, they had a child together, but both the mother and child died from some type of poison. If we send your soul and chakra back to right before the child dies, I’m sure your chakra would burn the poison away and you would be able to overtake the body.”
Naruto recoiled and let go of her father’s hand. “Overtake the body? Take over someone else’s life?”
“A life that was already lost. Don’t think too hard on this, dobe. It sounds like a solid plan.” Sasuke spoke up from seat across the fire. “You would be older than your parents then. Which means you would be in a time to stop the destruction of Uzushiogakure. You would be able to help stop the beginning of the Third Shinobi War. You would be able to keep your mother from having to be Kurama’s reluctant Jinchuriki. Don’t think of this as you taking someone’s life. If you need to, think of this as you being reincarnated as this person.”
Naruto wanted to argue. She really did. But she had nothing to say. It was all logical, even if she didn’t like it. She gave her friend a pout and crossed her arms over her chest. “I hate that when you decide to speak in more than undecipherable sounds, it’s to call me an idiot and be logical.” Sasuke rolled his eyes at the girl. Naruto decided to let it be. “So… The rest of this lies on me, huh? The idiot of the Leaf Village.”
Minato frowned and opened his mouth to disagree with her words, but Shikamaru beat him to it. The dark haired shinobi reached out and pulled at her hair with a stern tug.
“Don’t talk about yourself like that, Naruto. You are not an idiot. You’re strong, brave, loyal, an excellent tactician on the fly, and one of the smartest people I know. I can look at seals and know that it takes more than a little bit of intelligence to be able to learn the art and make it work. You’ve been learning with your father for less than a year and I’ve seen you do some amazing things with it. Imagine what you can accomplish growing up on an island full of people who know and teach the art. You’ll be a seal master in no time.” Shikamaru leaned forward to kiss her cheek, causing the blonde to blush. “I know you can do it.”
Minato watched the interaction with a fond smile on his face before clearing his throat and sitting up straight.
“And, Naru-chan, because of how much chakra we all have to spare, it wouldn’t be impossible to say that we wouldn’t be sending you back alone. We’d have enough chakra to send back another person to around the same time. The only problem would be figuring out where to place them.” He looked around at everyone else. “I know it’s highly improbable, but does anyone know of any deaths at a young age that would fit our needs?”
Naruto frowned, not likening the way it was worded, but looked around at her friends, hopeful.
Obito and Sasuke shook their heads. “There were, obviously, many deaths in the Uchiha clan, but I don’t know of any actual young deaths from the time we’re thinking about.” Obito mumbled.
Kakashi sighed and leaned into the older Uchiha. “The only death I knew about around that time was my mother. But she was older, so that won’t work.”
Sakura folded her arms over her chest. “My family have always been traveling merchants. There’s not much I would be able to do even if I knew of anyone who had a young child who died.”
Shikamaru had his hands sitting in his thinking position, a habit he couldn’t kick. “I think… I remember my father telling me the story of how I got my name. There was a Shikamaru before me. My grandfather’s younger brother. My father told me that the clan documented that he had been born on the night of the new moon and had died not too long after suddenly and unexpectedly. My grandfather had been devastated about losing his little brother and had named my father Shikaku in his memory. My father, in return, named me Shikamaru with permission from my grandfather.”
Sakura spoke up quickly. “Lady Tsunade used to tell me stories about how babies would sometimes be born with blocked chakra networks and would die suddenly due to it and no one knew what it was for a while. She actually told me that story because of Lee. She said it was a miracle that he lived to be the shinobi that he was.” A tear fell down the pink haired girl’s face that she swiped away very quickly as she continued to speak. “That is more than likely what caused the sudden death of your great uncle and sending your chakra and soul back would more than likely be the influx of chakra needed to unblock those chakra passages and allow for the body to live.” She gave Shikamaru a hopeful smile.
Shikamaru looked at the Hokage. “So we have another possible candidate.” He suddenly flinched, turning his gaze towards Hinata. “Unless you know of someone as well, Hinata?”
The lavender eyed woman had been quiet the entire conversation, deep in thought. She gave the shadow user a bright smile. “Even if I did know of someone, Shikamaru-kun, I would not say it now.” Everyone looked at the Hyuuga, confused. “This war has been tough. And we have all had many losses, but we have also found something here with each other that we’ve never thought possible.” She looked towards where Kakashi had his head rested on Obito’s shoulder and how Sakura held tight to a Leaf Village headband that was attached to a red cloth. Lee’s that he had gifted to her before his sacrifice. And then looked down at how Sasuke held tight to her own hand, probably not even realizing it completely. “Yes, we have all made new connections here. And you, Shikamaru-kun, have the most obvious one with Naru-chan.” The blonde and shadow user blushed. “And I can easily say that I would rather lay down my life here for the opportunity to send you two back together so that you can, one: save our world, and two: be with each other for the rest of your days, surrounded by the people you love and without worry. Please allow us to do this for you two.” Hinata bowed her head, stunning the young couple.
Kakashi gave his closed eyed smile from across the fire and bowed his head as well. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, Hinata-chan.” There were hums and nods of agreement from everyone else around the fire.
Minato smiled and gave a sudden clap. “Then it is decided! I will work on the seal and then, we will do what was thought to be impossible.” He stood and ruffled his daughter’s hair gently before making his way back towards the Uzukage tower.
Kurama huffed at the humans in his life and turned around to face Naruto, having been quiet the entire time. “You better make sure that I’m your Jinchuriki again, brat. I quite like how you treat me.” Naruto gave Kurama a sad smile that slowly transformed into a bright one as she reached her arms around the fox to give him a tight hug. “Don’t squeeze so tight, human.” He grumbled, but didn’t dare to move away.
***
It only took three days of sketches with Minato and Naruto going back and forth about the seal before they were able to paint the official seal on the floor of an intact sealing room in the tower.
Three days of the others meditating and trying their best to not waste any excess chakra. Three days of making peace with themselves and saying their goodbyes.
Naruto was, obviously, the one hit the hardest with the situation. She was about to lose the rest of her friends and be stranded in a time she knew nothing about. Alone until she could be reunited with Shikamaru again. When her father wasn’t bouncing Fuinjutsu concepts off her, she was spending some time with the others.
She had been forced to take lunch with Hinata and Sakura on the first day, listening to the girls talk and try to teach her small, quick things about medical ninjutsu, chakra control, and how to be a real lady and kunoichi. Things she had been neglected in learning when she was much younger.
That same night, Obito sat next to her at dinner and was adamant with talking to her about how she couldn’t become a stick in the mud like Kakashi used to be. The silver haired man had rolled his eyes from across the fire at that. He told her that even though her past hadn’t been the best, and he was mostly to blame for that, that he wished she would use this new life as a new opportunity to live the way she was supposed to the first time around. Naruto had just patted his head and force fed him some of the fish that was cooked for dinner to shut him up. Kakashi laughed outright at the Uchiha’s stunned expression.
Sasuke had woken her up early the next morning to go out to the beach and watch the sunrise on the other side of the island. And he had decided that he would teach her how to handle a sword while they were there. Naruto whined about how she wasn’t going to learn Kenjutsu in a morning, but her broody brother didn’t care. He made her create clones so that she could at least learn the katas. “I’ll have to learn this all over again, Sasuke. I’m not sure why you’re insisting on this.” Naruto had mumbled as the Uchiha corrected her leg positions.
“Because I hope, dobe, that the techniques will imprint themselves on your soul and your chakra. Because if it does, just a little, that’s just one step closer to you being able to protect yourself without me there.” the Uchiha said before stepping away to make her do the move again. Naruto wanted to mention how she had been without him for a while now, but she kept it to herself. If it made him feel better, she was not going to ruin it.
Once she was able to escape the impromptu lesson, she was with her father for the remainder of the day until Shikamaru came to pull her away and feed her dinner on the roof of a mostly intact building. Now, if their small dinner turned into a make out session as well, Naruto wasn’t complaining. But then soft and playful touches and kisses turned into bruising holds and desperation. Like most of their intimate moments. It often made Naruto wonder if they would have ended up together in a different life. If the war had never happened. If they weren’t some of the last few people left. Every one of their intimate moments felt like a last goodbye, but that was the life of a ninja. Maybe she was just overthinking it. Later, before they went back down to join the others, Naruto draped herself over Shikamaru’s body and ran her fingers through his soft hair as he stared up at the sky. “Shika, you know I won’t hold it against you if we get to the past and you didn’t want anything to do with me.” Naruto whispered, putting out all her insecurities in that one simple sentence. The shadow user stopped breathing for a moment before he let out a full bodied laugh, jostling the blonde and making her give an irritated huff.
“You troublesome woman.” Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled them so that he was pinning her to the roof with his body. “You won’t be getting rid of me so easily. We Nara may be lazy, but once we have something or someone, we keep them.” He leaned down to give her a kiss.”And I plan on keeping you, Naru. For the rest of my days.” The blonde blushed and gave her boyfriend a small smile before pulling him down to kiss her again. They never ended up back with the rest of the group that night.
Naruto would have spent her lunch with Shikamaru the next day, but Kakashi was quick to swoop in and take her away to a secluded spot in the woods not far from the tower. He whistled and sat behind her, brushing and braiding her hair. It was a habit that he had started with the girls not long after running for their lives from Kaguya. It had started with Naruto after her hair had grown long enough to start getting in the way while she was trying to fight. She was about to hack it all off one night, but Kakashi stopped her and made her sit patiently as he conjured up his memories on how he used to braid Kushina’s hair back when she was pregnant. Naruto had smiled at him and gave him a small hug, asking if he could do it again for her every once in a while. It eventually turned into him braiding Hinata and Sakura’s hair as well and he did it all happily.
Naruto sat quietly as she nibbled on some fish while Kakashi worked. When he was done, he rested his head on her shoulder so that she could see his eye smile. “All done, Naru-chan.” Naruto sighed and leaned back into the man that she had come to think of as her older brother. Their relationship was weird and strained at first as it seemed like the silver haired man wanted nothing to do with any of his students and then he started to focus on one. Naruto had resented him for a while, and after Sasuke had left, she downright hated him because Kakashi had all but disappeared from her life. But then she left with Jiraiya and when she came back, she was mostly indifferent about her old sensei, if not a little excited to see him, or anyone that she had known, really. He was, technically, still her sensei after all of that, but she slowly started to see him less as that and more of a weird older brother who didn’t know how to truly interact with other people. She had told him as much and he had huffed with a blush on his cheeks and demanded she call him Aniki, which she had refused for the longest time until after they lost a lot of their forces after the initial battle with Madara and then Kaguya during the war. They had been hiding in the mountains of lightning country and Kakashi had had a fight with Obito, so he was huddled close to Naruto as they tried their best to stay warm. Naruto had grumbled and hid her face in her knees as Kakashi had, essentially, draped his body over hers as she was kind of a furnace. “I love you. I really do, Kaka-aniki, but please don’t use me to hide from your boyfriend.” Kakashi had blushed and tried to make excuses as his sensei, Naruto’s father, had laughed from his seat not too far from the both of them. But then Kakashi had realized what Naruto had called him and he held her tighter then, trembling. Naruto ignored the tears that she could feel seeping into her shirt as the man hid his face against her back.
“Thank you, Aniki. Do you want the rest of the fish? I’m not very hungry.” Naruto asked, reaching up to tug at the silver haired man’s mask. Kakashi swatted at her hand and bumped his head against hers.
“I know you’re stressed out about everything that’s about to happen, Naruto, but please at least try and finish your food. You don’t want to make bad habits.” Kakashi let out a dramatic sigh and tossed himself back against the ground. “Geez, what are you going to do without your dutiful aniki in the past? You’ll starve or train yourself to death.”
Naruto rolled her eyes and slapped Kakashi’s leg. “Stop being so dramatic. Besides, I’ll have you again eventually.”
Kakashi let out an amused huff and sat back up. “But then you’ll be the oneechan. I won’t be able to big brother you.” He said with a pout. He tugged a little at her braid.
“From the stories Obito tells from when you were kids, I’m sure you’ll find a way.” She giggled when Kakashi pouted and threw himself back on the ground again while calling her mean.
Not too long after lunch, Naruto and her father had completed the seal. Naruto wanted to wait until the next day to try activating it, but the others, once they learned about it being complete, did not see the need to wait. They all joined the two blonds in the sealing room and Minato explained how it would all work. The seal essentially pulled chakra from any source that wasn’t the chakra or soul being transferred until it eventually drained it. Once all of that was complete, and the seal had built up enough energy to do what it was designed, it ripped the chakra and soul from the intended travelers and transplanted them to where they needed to be. Which means that Naruto and Shikamaru would have to concentrate on their own tasks of leading their energies exactly where they needed to go after they ended up in the correct time.
Minato explained that the seal would not hurt the others, but would more than likely put them to sleep before they died of chakra depletion. Naruto bit her lip and trembled as her father approached her and Shikamaru and drew seals on their foreheads that would help guide them and keep the seal from draining their chakra as well. Minato had seals painted on his hands as well so that he could keep the seal going until the very end.
There was no need for goodbyes in the moment either, as everyone had already made peace with what was about to happen. Naruto had as well, reluctantly. But that didn’t stop her from crying tears that she hadn’t in a while. Shikamaru turned to her and wiped them away before giving her a kiss and whispering that everything would turn out fine.
Right before Minato was about to activate the seal, Kurama released himself from Naruto’s seal and pulled as much chakra with him that he could compress into a slightly larger form without invading the entire room and without completely pulling it all from Naruto. “I’m counting on you to make yourself my Jinchuriki again, brat. Do not disappoint me.”
Naruto let out a choked laugh and bowed her head. Of course those would be Kurama’s parting words with her. “You got it, fuzz ball.” The Kyuubi huffed and they all turned to Minato to begin the seal. The man nodded and began a long sequence of hand signs.
”Remember, Naruto and Shikamaru, concentrate on your intended vessels and where your souls and chakra should migrate. Do not waver.” They both nodded, determined, and Minato quickly finished off the rest of the hand signs. “Fuin!”
Immediately, the others began to feel it. One by one, the seal drained the chakra from the remaining shinobi in the elemental nations. The more chakra they lost, the more the seal began to glow. They were all sitting down already, but Sakura was the first to wane and eventually fall over onto her side, asleep then gone, as she was the one with the least amount of chakra. Hinata was next. Naruto had to close her eyes tight to keep from seeing her family die. But she could still feel them leave her. Her body trembled so hard that Shikamaru had to wrap his arms around her and hold her close, whispering to her that everything would be okay.
Kakashi, as dense as his chakra was, was the next to falter. He reached out to take Obito’s hand before falling unconscious. The Uchiha took him into his arms and held him close as he and Sasuke followed the others into death not too long after.
Kurama’s chakra would take the longest to drain, but it was draining surprisingly fast. The fox shifted uncomfortably as he pulled more chakra from Naruto’s seal to compensate before there was almost none left to pull. He left that there so that his Jinchuriki didn’t die before the sealing was complete. Eventually, he became small enough so that he could curl up against Naruto and Shikamaru and let the girl bury her fingers and face into his warm fur. He let out an amused huff, but said nothing more. No words were needed right now.
When Kurama’s chakra was finally gone, Naruto was a sobbing mess. Shikamaru held her as tight as he could and told her it was time for her to concentrate. They didn’t have time for tears. Naruto slowly pulled herself together as the seal started to pull away at her father’s chakra.
Just then, off in the distance, the two blonds could feel the Uzushio sage shields break and then they felt her. Kaguya. She had finally found them.
Minato let out a loud and vindictive laugh as more Edo Tensei cracks began to form across his borrowed body as his chakra left him. It was too late for the goddess. By the time she arrived, the seal would be complete. He smiled and looked up at the two travelers.
”Good luck to you both. I love you so much.” He forcefully pushed his remaining chakra into the seal and his body crumbled apart.
Naruto and Shikamaru gripped each other tight as they could feel the seal pulling at them, ripping them apart. The last thing Naruto heard was the vicious scream of the rabbit goddess in the distance before everything went dark.
***
Light, colors, and sounds slowly came back to her. Everything felt odd as she tried to move around and realized that there was no actual body holding her together. She looked around and noticed that she was in a room where attendants rushed around and what looked like doctors tended to a pale woman with long, curly, golden hair who held tight to an equally as pale baby with red tufts of curls on its head. Both of their breathing was labored and they didn’t look like they would be alive much longer.
This, Naruto realized, was her vessel. She slowly floated down towards the child and the woman, probably its mother, opened her eyes and seemed to look right at her. A gasp escaped the woman and she used trembling arms to hold the baby up to Naruto.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please save my baby girl.”
The doctors sighed and tried to make her put the child down. “We have someone still working on it, Uzumaki-sama, but the poison is something new from Suna. It’s not anything we’ve seen before.” The doctor didn’t sound particularly sad, but he knew this was a lost cause. Their Uzukage would not be happy.
The woman shook her head and held the baby closer to Naruto. “Not you. The angel. Please save my baby.” The doctor thought that the woman was hallucinating and marked that down as a symptom of the poison, but Naruto knew the truth. The woman could see her and thought she was an angel. With pure determination, she forced her chakra and soul to take on a more human form. Naruto reached out her hands and covered the woman’s hands on the baby, giving a slight squeeze before she shifted them to gently stroke the baby’s head. Naruto could feel the seal that her father painted on her shift around until it settled itself on the baby.
This was it. She was about to take over this child’s life. She understood, realistically, that the child would not survive much longer without her intervention, but it still pained her to have to do this.
“Thank you.” The whisper startled Naruto out of her thoughts and she glanced at the woman as she started to feel her chakra being absorbed into the small body. “Thank you for saving her. My little Tsubaki will grow stronger than the rest. She has an angel on her side.” The woman’s face looked pained, but she was still smiling. She slowly lowered the baby back to her chest and started to hum a song. Color returned to baby Tsubaki’s skin as Naruto’s essence started to burn away at the poison that was ravaging the body just moments ago.
The doctor was stunned and called for aid as it looked like the child now had a fever when just a few seconds ago she was ice cold.
The door to the sick room slammed open and a man with long red hair ran into the room. He fell onto the bed next to the woman and reached out to touch her pale cheek. “Nikko! I came as fast as I could.” He looked over his wife before turning his attention to their baby. “No one explained anything to me. What happened to my wife and child?” He said with a growl, turning his attention to the doctor. Uzumaki Arashi, the Uzukage, was not a man to be trifled with. He had a reputation that made people tremble if they saw him in battle. He wasn’t just named after the storm. This man was a storm.
The doctor looked away, wondering where his help was. “It is poison, Uzukage-sama. Something from Suna that we’ve never seen before. There seems to be nothing we can do, but your child has started to develop a fever and your wife is having hallucinations. We have them marked down as more symptoms of the poison.”
Arashi snarled and stood. “If you are not going to do anything for my family, then what is the point of you?” The doctor flinched away, but Nikko lifted a weak hand to take her husband’s. And just that quickly, the storm faded and the man returned his attention to his love. As dangerous as a shinobi this man was in his daily life, he was always a gentle soul to those that he loved. Naruto, who was just barely finished with being assimilated into the child, was getting a bit of whiplash from the swinging emotions in the room.
“Arashi. I’m sorry that I have to leave you.” Nikko whispered as her husband came closer. The man tried to shush her, but she just shook her head and brought their baby closer to him. “You won’t be alone though. An angel has saved our Tsubaki. Raise her well. Raise her to be strong and brave.” She gave him a weak smile. “Raise her to be a warrior far more tenacious and powerful than any Namikaze before her.”
The Uzumaki’s hands trembled as he reached up to stroke his wife’s hair out of her face. “I promise, Nikko. Tsubaki will want for nothing and she will be the fiercest woman anyone will ever encounter. I promise.”
Naruto closed her eyes, giving the two their last moment together just as she was finally absorbed into the body of the baby. She opened her eyes to a white room with a small bundle laying on the floor not too far from her. She slowly approached and looked down to see a small baby girl with curly red hair and blue eyes just slightly darker than her own. She did not look well either. Silent cries came from the child and her face was scrunched up as if in pain. Naruto got down to her knees and reached out to lift the baby. When they physically touched, the sound of the cries hit Naruto like a slap to the face.
“Tsubaki,” she whispered. “I am so sorry, little one.” She rocked the baby gently in an attempt at comfort. It seemed to work as the cries started to quiet down and got softer. “I’m so sorry that this has happened to you.” She pulled the baby into a soft hug. “Rest now. Everything will be okay.”
On the island nation of Whirlpools, a baby opened ocean blue eyes to the world to see the blurry form of a red haired man leaning over her and crying. The baby let out a little gurgle to try and tell the man that everything would be okay. A gasp escaped the man and the baby felt large hands scoop her up and left her against a solid chest.
“Oh Tsubaki. Thank the gods. Nikko was right.” He nuzzled his cheek against hers. “Your mother was right. You were saved. I promise this will never happen again. Papa will keep you safe, okay?”
The baby, Tsubaki, just let out a little sigh and closed her eyes, too tired to do anything but sleep.
***
Not too far away, in the Land of Fire, a certain shadow user had significantly less time than his counterpart to come to peace with what was about to happen.
His chakra and soul took shape in a small room that was familiar, but foreign at the same time. A small medical room inside the Nara compound. A place he did not see often from before.
Inside the room a woman with dark brown hair was having a difficult time with coming to terms with what the doctor was trying to tell her.
Green glowing hands hovered over her youngest son. A precious life that she had only just brought into the world the day before. She was told that he didn’t have much longer to live.
”His chakra passages are blocked, my Lady. No matter what I try, I am only prolonging the inevitable.” The doctor said with much sadness in his voice.
The woman stood and glared at the man with tears in her eyes. “What use are you if you cannot save my son?” She asked with a hiss, forcing the doctor out of the room. She knew she wasn’t being completely fair, but her heart was breaking. She returned to her child’s side and whispered to him that he would be okay. That she would take care of him forever.
Shikamaru watched this and let out a small chuckle. Troublesome woman. He reached out and placed a hand on the baby’s head, wishing he could alleviate some of his grandmother’s pain, but he was more concerned about assimilating himself with his vessel in hopes that it would survive. He hoped that what Sakura said was true and that his chakra would force the body’s coils unblocked.
As soon as he laid his hand on the child, he could feel the seal transfer itself and he heard the woman let out a gasp. He glanced over and saw her looking right at him with tears in her eyes.
“Please don’t take my baby.” Shikamaru was confused at first, but if he thought about it he knew how this must look. If she would see him, she was more than likely seeing him as a wavering light. She had just heard that her baby was in a dire situation. He must look like an angel or a grim reaper, come to take a soul. Unfortunately, that was half true.
He reached out his hand to the woman who hesitated at first, but lifted her own to touch it, making a shiver run down her spine. She seemed to relax though, as if feeling something familiar. The Nara may be an underrated clan in the village, but there were things about them that not everyone knew. The clan were shadow users because they were born with shadows in their souls. The blessed children of Daikokuten, the god of great darkness. Their chakra was easily recognizable to any other Nara in the vicinity because of this. They used the shadows because they were born from the shadows. He didn’t understand the lore of his clan at first, thinking it was just a silly story, but he knows now. Has lived the lore for the remaining days of his previous life. Shikamaru’s soul and chakra, by now, were enriched in darkness.
His great grandmother recognized him for who he was. A shadow. A Nara.
The woman nodded her head, not knowing exactly what was going on, but knowing what must be done. Shikamaru nodded his head as well and turned his attention back to the baby, placing both hands on it and forcing his chakra and soul into the vessel, hoping that the intense influx of chakra would do what it needed to.
Shikamaru opened his eyes to darkness and found himself laying on his back, his fingers just barely brushing against something small and shaking. He turned his head and could make out the small, frail shape of his vessel. The original Shikamaru’s soul. He could hear little pained breaths as the soul reflected the body’s ailment.
He rolled himself over and brought his body closer so that he could wrap around the baby and touch his cheek with a gentle touch.
”I’m sorry that you didn’t have more time in this world, but I thank you for everything you’re giving me.” He placed a kiss on the baby’s head. “Rest now, Shikamaru.”
In the dark of the night in the middle of the Nara compound, a woman held her breath as she watched as color returned to her baby’s skin and a thick shadow settled into the corners of the room. Her hand trembled as she reached out to give him a gentle touch and let out a relieved sob when she felt a strong fluttering heartbeat under her fingers. She picked up her baby and held him to her chest as she cried and thanked the ancestors and gods for sending someone to save her son.
”You are so strong, my little fawn. My Shikamaru. And you have a family full of shadows who will protect you and make you stronger.” She whispered to him as she rocked the boy back and forth, smiling when he let out a little sigh. “Such a Nara already.”
She stood and moved to the door to introduce her little deer to his older brother and the rest of the clan.
