Memories of the Future

A/N: hoi hoi, minna-san!! i don't know why, but i felt like updating everything this weekend, so look for even more after this! maybe... i have plans for a manicure tomorrow...

anyway! here's the latest chapter of 'memories' and i hope it answers some of your questions! if you don't understand something, no fear. naruto will tell kakashi everything kyuubi reveals, and the tensai will put it in simple, easy-for-naruto-to-understand terms.

thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapters! and, what the hell, thanks to everyone who just read it, even if you didn't leave a review. it means a lot to me even when the view count goes up.

in this chapter, i modified the concept of Qilong in feng shui to fit my needs, so feng shui users, don't have a cow. it's just a story.

onward!

same tags apply


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Memories of the Future: Chapter 8 - Kyuubi
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“Yuki-chan, please answer us!”

“Yuki-san, what’s wrong with you?”

“What’s going on?”

“Ayame, go get Oto-sama. Something’s wrong with Yuki-san!”

Naruto’s body was motionless on his bed, heedless of the Uchiha children’s cries. Purple eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, and ears were deaf to his surroundings. His breathing was calm and smooth, long, slow breaths that barely lifted his chest, almost as if he were dead.

Inside, however, Naruto was a storm of action. His bright blue eyes searched every corridor and chamber of Yuki’s mind until he felt he couldn’t see straight. His legs hurt from running while his stomach was rounded with life. There was no tiny body in him, but Naruto now knew that souls themselves had weight. Returning to the main chamber, Naruto huffed in exasperation before taking a deep breath and shouting at the top of his lungs, “Kyuubi!”

It didn’t take long for her to show, and she glared at him in irritation. “What is it, you little brat? I told you I couldn’t be bothered!” Her glare dropped when she saw his blue eyes glowing with a fierce, angry light.

“Why did you kill me?” he asked, his tone low and dangerous.

Kyuubi didn’t move, didn’t say anything for a minute as she stared in remorse at the angry blonde. Then she smiled somewhat bitterly. “I see you’ve put a few things together. I’m chagrined to have thought you wouldn’t be able to do so.”

“I had help,” Naruto bit out.

“You told someone about this?” Kyuubi asked, wondering if this revelation was a good or a bad one.

“I had to. I was doing everything wrong, and so much has happened in sixteen years…” Naruto’s eyes watered as he thought about Hinata, but he shoved those emotions aside for now, reluctant to let go of his anger. “I told Kakashi.”

“Damn, stupid jounin,” he heard her murmur. She reached up to brush aside some strands of hair and let out a sigh. “I will tell you the truth, as long as you are willing to hear it.”

“I am stuck in a woman’s body, with a soul in my stomach, learning about how all the people I care for are dying or falling into pits of despair, and you think I can’t handle something else?”

“Fine.” Kyuubi took a breath and relaxed her shoulders. With the motion, Naruto noticed she was no longer wearing a kimono, but had donned leather pants in a shade of lilac that complimented her fiery hair. The pant legs flared at the bottom, and Naruto saw that they laced up the sides. The top was sleeveless, simply tied around her neck, the same shade and material as the pants. On closer inspection, it seemed there was no back to the top, and Naruto wondered where Kyuubi got her strange fashion sense for being male for so many centuries before.

“Do you know what chi is, brat?” Naruto jumped at the question, and after careful thought, shook his head. “Chi is basically the same as chakra, though its flow is found in the wind and water. It is very powerful when mastered. However, there is a key difference. While chakra can only be used from within one’s own body – unless one knows jutsu that allow for the theft of others’ chakra, much as that tub of lard from Sound – chi is drawn from nature and is abundant.”

“What does this have to do with the price of tea in the Land of Tea?”

“The men and women that attacked Konoha sixteen years ago were chi masters from a far away land who came to the village, intent on drawing me out of your body. And they succeeded in doing so. Since chi is so like chakra, it was easy for the man who sliced you open to draw me forth, after breaking the seal, and hold me captive. However, the horrendous backlash of my chakra destroyed Konoha and the surrounding area. You died, and I was taken back to their homeland, unable to ascertain if anyone survived.”

“Why did they want you?”

“Even our enemies have enemies. They wanted my demonic power, as well as those of the Akatsuki’s other targets, to fight a dragon named Qilong. This dragon has the ability to devour chi and make itself stronger. The chi masters figured that while chi and chakra held many similarities, they were different enough for there to be a definite margin of strength that one had over the other.”

“Wait! What are you trying to pull? You told me that we both died and you were reincarnated!”

“Let me finish the story, brat! You wanted the truth, so I’m giving it to you!” Kyuubi let out a huff of air. “Anyway, those chi masters made a slight miscalculation when they thought I would just bend over for them. My body was long since gone, taken by Yondaime’s damn jutsu, so when they tried to transfer me to a new vessel, my spirit escaped and wandered. That’s where the story of Yuki comes in.

“I found my way back to Konoha, only to find a small community built on the ruins of the old shinobi village, populated by the survivors. My spirit needed an anchor, so I housed myself within a small orphan boy, Yuki. I knew those chi users would eventually find me again, so, as the years passed, I molded the body into one I could use to perform my time jutsu and correct what had gone wrong.

“I needed to save us both from the fate that had befallen us, but I saw no way to do so besides to kill us both. I went back in time and entered your body, causing two things to happen that changed the course of the future. I confused the enemy with my double-presence, so he did not know which soul to extract before your mate killed him. And unfortunately, it prevented my old form from healing your wound. My chakra gave out, and I returned to the future without you, to find that many things had changed, and the only casualty that day had been you.

“I was now in a female body, but your family and friends, besides the mother of my vessel, were alive. However, that wasn’t the goal I had intended. So I stored my chakra for a few years, hiding my subtle power build up within the far reaches of the Uchiha district.”

“How did Sasuke not notice?”

“He was too broken to notice much of anything, kit. Apparently, after Akatsuki attacked, Ayame had been a victim. He had lost two of his precious people so close together, one only a small babe who hadn’t even the chance to truly live.” Kyuubi stopped when she noticed Naruto’s teary-eyed confusion.

“But Ayame’s alive right now.”

“I know, though it was a long shot. When I had stored a sufficient amount of chakra, I tried again, this time determined to save you. When the enemy struck but was unable to extract my other self, I was set to leave, but your spirit, already trying to leave the body, tangled with mine, and as I returned, you returned with me. The only difference in this future, however, was that Ayame was alive and you were still dead. And now here we stand, instead of me trying to find a way to send you back.”

Naruto was quiet a moment before he spoke lowly to the floor. “Why did you lie to me, Kyuubi?”

Kyuubi stared helplessly at his shaking form, though he was shaking from anger rather than anything else. “I thought something less complicated would be easier for you. But seeing how badly this has upset you, I regret doing so.”

“I don’t know,” Naruto laughed out bitterly. “I should be grateful, maybe. I mean, you just told me that I died three times, and that each time there were less deaths of the ones I love. Maybe we should give it one more go, and nobody I love will die!” His sarcasm was biting, but he didn’t care.

“I’m trying to ensure that no one dies in this next attempt, kit.”

“Dammit, Kyuubi! You don’t know what will happen! You might end up killing us all!”

“It’s better than what you’re going through now, isn’t it, Naruto?”

Naruto didn’t know what to say, but his anger abruptly left him. He felt tired, and there was a persistent nagging at his consciousness that was really starting to grate on his nerves.

“Wake up, Naruto. You are scaring your family.”

Naruto jolted back with that statement, and his vision blacked out for a second before brightness surrounded him. He was staring up at what he’d come to know as ‘his’ ceiling, a circle of anxious faces hovering over him.

Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke let out sighs of relief, and Naruto almost felt as if he were in his own body, looking up at his team from the ground after a hard battle won. But then he saw Kakashi’s eye widened in shock as Sakura gasped and Sasuke furrowed his brow.

“Yuki-chan, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Sakura shoved a glowing green hand into his face, and he automatically shut his eyes. “Open your eyes, Yuki-chan,” Sakura ordered, her manner that of ‘no-nonsense.’ Naruto noticed Kakashi’s eye close in relief when he did as she said. “That’s odd. For a second, I could have sworn your eyes were blue…”

Sakura moved back, followed by the other two, and Naruto sat up in his bed. He felt a shift in weight on the mattress, and he looked over to see his children staring at him intently.

“We were so worried, Yuki-chan, when we came in here to wake you up, and you wouldn’t budge,” Ayame stated pathetically.

“It was so scary, the way you were just staring blankly at the ceiling,” added Kei.

“Your heart rate was quite erratic over the course of your incapacitation. Are you alright, Yuki-san?” Touya asked.

“I was merely meditating, but thank you for your concern.” Sakura looked as if she was about to protest his claim, but he cut her off with a stern glare. “I needed to sort a few things out before I started the day.”

“Well, Yuki-chan,” Kakashi drawled lazily, “the jounin exams are coming nearer, and I have to train a few of the candidates. For your part, I may need your assistance from time to time, but until they are over, your official mission will be as an aide to the Hokage. Is that acceptable?”

Naruto wanted to yell at the silver-haired jounin. How could he subject him to constant interaction with his husband? Though the bastard had a sadistic side, Naruto had thought he’d found a confidant in the man. And what was this about a jounin exam, and his name wasn’t up for consideration?

But Naruto didn’t say anything. He merely nodded and quietly seethed, though the crinkle to Kakashi’s eye told him the jounin knew exactly what he was thinking and how many ways he could do it without getting caught.

“That’s a good idea, Kakashi-sensei. After her accident, she’s been acting strange. This mission will put less stress on her so she can recover,” stated Sakura.

‘Less stress my ass!’

Sasuke hadn’t said anything since he’d come back to consciousness, but Naruto noticed how those steely black eyes never left him. Unnerved by the stare as he’d never been before, Naruto’s defiant nature kicked in, and he stared back, a brow arched in question.

Those black eyes widened slightly, and then Sasuke pushed himself off the wall he’d taken to leaning on. “You heard Sakura. Rest for the remainder of the day, and tomorrow you will escort me to the office, and I will hand you your assignment.”

Naruto bowed his head from where he sat and mumbled a demur, “Yes, Hokage-sama,” with a mental ‘Kiss my ass, teme’ to soothe over the good-natured irritation of calling his lifelong rival ‘Hokage.’

‘When Kyuubi fixes this mess, I’ll make sure Sasuke’s the one answering to me! Believe it!’


TBC


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how was it? for anyone confused, let me sum up - history, as believed by many philosophers, is cyclical. so when kyuubi changes the past, he/she changes the future as well as changes the past at the same time. meh... kakashi will explain later.

anywho, so, i updated this, 'I Fall to Pieces' (hanyou_elf - check that out; i'm continuing with those relationships that you wanted to know about), and i hope to update 'A Konoha Fairy Tale' rather shortly. i came up with the cutest idea for that fic and have gotten back to writing it.

as always, anyone who wants an e-mail alert for any of my fics, leave a vaild e-mail address and which story lists you'd like to be added to.

thank you for reading! until next time!!

(p.s. i had a really graphic Prince of Tennis dream the other night, and i was wondering... would anyone want to read it if i wrote it out? i mean... graphic, as in tennis balls where they do not belong. wow, this is a really long end A/N...)