Memories of the Future

A/N: i'm ba~ack!! welcome to chapter 3! i so glad all of you like this story. and before we get on with it, i have a few questions, comments, and blanket responses: *ahem*

i was told that my ideas are always so screwy (though interesting) and was asked where i came up with them. answer: in my dreams. at night, the faster way for me to get to sleep is to play something in the theatre of my mind. a skit will work itself out before my mind's eye, and before i know it, i have a story. other times, it's just a trigger phrase that will spark my imagination, such as the "here's to the fox" song/game or "kitsune no yomeiri." i am also greatly influenced by what others write around me.

will there be het? hm, i don't know yet. i have some half-formed ideas about crushes and whatnot, but i know i will not write any het lemons. so i guess, depending upon the depth of your personal definition of 'het', that would be a no...

it's not so much that kyuubi kept the yuki and naruto's souls alive, since souls are eternal in this story. it's more like she kept the body alive and the soul captive before it could leave for another vessel. and just because i don't think i'll actually explain this in the story i'll put it here: yuki fainted because kyuubi had to leave the weaker soul alone in the body while she traveled back in time to get naruto's soul. it survived alone in such a short time span because it had been fed with kyuubi's chakra for sixteen years already.

now for a question since i said i had one: who honestly has a problem with naruto wearing orange and black? i mean, hey, they were my high school colors!!

alright, i'm sorry for the long A/N, but thank you for the reviews, and on with the story!!

same tags apply


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Memories of the Future: Chapter 3 - Kakashi
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The sun had just peeked over the horizon when Naruto awoke. He’d waited until the Uchiha had gone to bed before sneaking into his room through the window the previous night. What had irked Naruto was that he’d expended way too much energy climbing the side of the house. Kyuubi may have hundreds of years of knowledge, but she apparently didn’t know how to use her vast chakra in a human body. Naruto hadn’t known how either until Jiraiya had trained him, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that with all the chakra Kyuubi used on a regular basis, she should’ve been figured out by now, or at least ranked higher than chuunin.

Naruto shook his head and shifted gears to getting ready. Shinsuke hadn’t specified when to meet at the bridge, and though Naruto had a feeling he should’ve been there by now, he found it too hard to break such an ingrained habit of waiting just as long as Kakashi took to actually get there.

Though, he reasoned to himself, Kakashi wasn’t Kyuubi’s sensei and whoever it was probably wouldn’t like it that he was late. So Naruto readied an excuse that someone as high maintenance as Kyuubi could pull off.

He figured he should make breakfast, since that’s what Kyuubi was obviously paid to do, and he made a quick meal of miso and fried eggs, left it on the stove to keep warm, and made his way to the bridge. He hoped that they didn’t question his lack of cooking skills.

Dressed in the outfit Ayame had bought Kyuubi, Naruto cautiously made his way through town. Instead of a long severe braid flowing down his back, he’d parted it down the middle and pulled the sections into jaunty pigtails atop his head. It was the norm for when he used his sexy jutsu, so he didn’t see why he should depart from that. Other than the fact he was probably giving Kyuubi’s well-made image a serious makeover, but if Kyuubi succeeded in… whatever the hell it was that she was doing, than it wouldn’t matter in the end, would it?

The very same bridge from his childhood came into view, and a smile played over Naruto’s face. But when the people waiting there weren’t Sasuke and Sakura, the smile slipped a bit. Instead there was Shinsuke and another male, whose dark hair and pale eyes labeled him as a Hyuuga.

As he came closer, both boys turned to him and stared in shock.

“Yuki-san?”

“Ohayo, Hyuuga-san!” ‘What’s his name, what is his name?’

“Yuki-chan, why are you dressed like that?”

“Well, I think I made it perfectly clear yesterday that I was fuc-frickin’ cold…” Naruto trailed off and slapped himself mentally. Why the hell couldn’t he get this right? He shook his head slightly. “So, where is, um, o-our sensei?”

Shinsuke made a rude noise in his throat. “Are you serious? You know he’s never here on time. If Kakashi were ever-”

“Kakashi!” Naruto cried and stood in shock as the information sunk in. His sensei, his perverted sensei, his personal jounin tormentor was Kyuubi’s sensei?

“Yo.” Naruto spun around to stare in awe at his former sensei. The man was still donned in his jounin uniform, his face half covered and hitai-ate skewed over his left eye. But his right eye was surrounded by the barest hint of wrinkles, the only sign of his advanced age, and in his left hand was a very familiar book.

“I’m sorry I was late, but there was a rather old lady who needed-”

Without thinking, Naruto’s index finger shot out and he screamed, “Liar!”

The ingrained reaction didn’t at first register to Naruto, but when he saw Kakashi’s visible eye widen in uncontained surprise and shock, it sank in what he’d done. He shakily put down his finger, his mouth opening and closing for lack of something to say. He watched as Kakashi took him in from head to toe, that surprise never leaving his eye. Naruto was known as the most surprising ninja of Konoha, but he didn’t recall ever throwing Kakashi off this much before.

“Yuki-chan? Is that really you?”

Naruto laughed nervously and answered, “Of course it is, Kakashi-sensei! Who else would it be?” His laughter died in his throat as Kakashi and even the boys behind him just stared.

‘What the hell did I do this time?’

After a moment, Kakashi cleared his throat and returned his gaze to the book in his hand. “Well, good, I guess. Today we’re going to be helping a genin team with one of their D-rank missions. It promotes teamwork and solidarity. Let’s get going.”

Kakashi turned and walked away, expecting them to follow, and they soon fell in step. As Naruto drew even with the jounin, he had the distinct feeling that the man was keeping a very close eye on him, and he hoped he hadn’t blown his cover. Not that anything short of Byakugan or Ino’s mind transfer jutsu could figure him out. At least, that’s what Naruto thought.

As they walked along the bleak winter-scape of Konoha, something very bright attracted Naruto’s attention, halting his progress and that of his team. The brightness called out a happy “Yuki-chan!” and bounded over to him. Ayame stopped before him and flung herself around his neck. She hugged him tightly and then let him go, smiling brightly as she stepped back to regard them all.

“Well, hello, Ayame-chan. How are you doing in your studies?”

“They’re wonderful, Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-baa-chan is the best shishou ever, aside from Oto-sama, that is.”

Naruto’s hand flew to his mouth to stifle another laugh at Sakura’s expense, still amused that his daughter called his former teammate that. And the fact that someone really thought Sasuke was a good teacher. ‘That teme…’

“Yuki-chan! You’re finally wearing the outfit I bought you! You look so good!”

Naruto looked up and offered the girl a smile, and then he realized what she was wearing. The outfit was a mirror image of his own, but the hide had been dyed to a bright… orange! Her hair was up in a high ponytail, like Sakura’s had been the day before, and her blue eyes sparkled despite the overcast sky.

Tears filled his eyes, and he turned his head away slightly, not wanting anyone to see his pain. But when Kakashi asked what Ayame wanted and Naruto turned to look at the man, he saw a flash of pain in the jounin’s eye. Naruto guessed that he wasn’t the only one who saw himself in the bright young girl.

“Ah, well, Yuki-chan wasn’t at home last night and didn’t return before we all went to bed, so I was worried that her injury was worse than we thought. And Sakura-baa-chan told me you were all going to be at the bridge today.”

Naruto snapped out of his odd mood enough to answer her. “I’m sorry I didn’t return earlier last night, Uchiha-san. I will apologize to Uchiha-sama this evening.”

She blinked at him and then smiled with a bit of confusion. ‘What the hell do I keep doing wrong? Concentration or not, I am this close to bothering Kyuubi!’

“Well, I have to return to the hospital. I’ll see you later, Yuki-chan! Oh, and Kakashi-sensei, Oto-sama wants to see you later. Hey! You could just take Yuki-chan with you so she can walk him home. You know how he can be.” Kakashi laughed and nodded, and Ayame smiled then turned and disappeared down the street. They resumed their trek to meet the genin team.

~*~

“Thanks for all your help, Kakashi-sensei.”

“No problem, and since we’re heading that way, we’ll take your report in.”

“Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!”

Naruto watched as the genin team and their instructor waved and left. He hadn’t known any of those children, or their parents, so thankfully he hadn’t done or said anything stupid. But the D-rank missions hadn’t changed any in sixteen years, so Naruto couldn’t help the scowl on his face for most of the day. And now Kakashi was going to drag him to see Sasuke.

He and Kakashi were walking side by side toward Hokage Tower to turn in the mission report. It still felt a bit odd to know that he would soon be seeing the people he grew up with, but they wouldn’t know that their old friend was currently inhabiting the body of the reincarnated nine-tailed fox. In fact, did Iruka-sensei still work in the records department?

“Hopefully Iruka will be there.”

Naruto inhaled sharply, momentarily thinking that he had said that out loud, but then he remembered the fledgling romance between the two men that they’d tried to keep secret, though Iruka never could keep quiet when it came to his favorite student.

As the tower loomed before them, Naruto remembered with a sharp pain in his heart that Tsunade was dead. And as they climbed the main steps, that thought jumped to a more interesting question: Who was the Rokudaime?

Naruto turned his head to try and catch a glimpse of Hokage Mountain, but the doors were swung closed just as his eyes reached the head of Sandaime. Then he felt eyes on him, and Naruto turned to regard Kakashi.

“Please go ahead to the Hokage’s office and tell him I’ll be right there.”

Naruto stifled the urge to scoff and bowed before walking away. Seriously, since when had Kakashi ever been ‘right’ anywhere? He rolled purple eyes and climbed to the Hokage’s office. As he neared the door, the ANBU stationed there turned their heads to regard him. He couldn’t see their faces, but he knew one was female and the other male.

“Good evening, Yuki-chan. We weren’t expecting you today, though I guess Ayame got to you, ne?” the male ANBU asked, a laugh in his very familiar voice.

“Good evening. And, yes, I’ve spoken to Uchiha-san today. But Kakashi-sensei is here to see the Hokage.”

“Okay, we’ll be on the look out. Why don’t you go on in?” The male ANBU reached to open the door, and, after a sharp look from her partner, the female did the same. Not knowing why he had to go in if Kakashi was the one summoned, Naruto hesitantly stepped forward. He gave the ANBU a look from the corner of his eye, and as he crossed the threshold, something caused him to stumble forward into the room. He quickly looked behind his stumbling feet to see the female’s foot whipping back to its proper place beside its mate. A frown marred his features as he wondered why the woman had tripped him.

“Are you okay, Yuki-san?”

Naruto’s heart froze in his chest as his head whipped up. His breath caught as he stared at the Rokudaime Hokage. Sixteen years had done nothing to the man, and Naruto expended any and all energy within him to keep himself on his feet instead of passed out on the floor. He wanted to cry, to curse, to run, or any combination of the three. An eyebrow was arched in a question aimed at him, and his vision blurred. One thought floated through his mind as he fell backward in a faint.

‘Sasuke…’


TBC


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oooo, yeah, sorry for the cliffie. not! wah haha!! did you all see that coming, 'cause i sure as hell did!

sasuke: idiot, you're the damn author. of course you saw it coming.
nomme: you don't know!! i could have just as easily typed 'Kiba...' that would be cause for naruto to faint!
sasuke: that would NEVER happen.
kiba: why would it never happen, uchiha? *threatening aura*
sasuke: because you're a moron.
kiba: are you saying morons can't be hokage?
naruto: that's right! because i'm going to be hokage!
*silence*
naruto: what?
everyone: what a dobe...

HEY EVERYONE!! i got my first fanart from Allys today!! OMFG, SQUEE!! you can find it at my livejournal: http://litchick87.livejournal.com/

it's not locked, so you should be able to see it.

thanks for reading, and i'll see ya soon!!