Ch 9- Future 9: Interlude I
“What do you mean, we won’t be going on missions sensei?” said Naruto
“I know you’re not happy Naruto, but what you know currently can’t get out under any circumstances. Even me and the other sensei won’t go on missions so that we can finish the contents quickly” said Kakashi.
“Cheer up, we can still train and be prepared for the invasion” said Sakura. Sakura was never excited to train, maybe seeing her future self had motivated her more than anyone thought.
Sasuke groaned, as always, the blonde is making a fuss, nothing new. Although, he wasn’t happy with the Hokage’s decision himself.
Apparently, there was still 2 months until the chunin exams, because the leaf seemed to have postponed it. It will be seen as a weakness by many of the hidden villages, and Orochimaru will get more time to prepare, however they needed the time to finish the contents of the cube.
Also, the Hokage had already seen the part 1 of the content already. So Sasuke was sure that the man known as God of Shinobi knew what he was doing. Although, the sudden invasion of Boruto related content would complicate things, especially if the cube continues to drop this hidden content like this.
Even so, in 2 months they would be able to finish the contents… hopefully.
It was evening now. Around 2 hours still remained till they would be meeting in a secret room arranged by the Hokage, in fact Sasuke was surprised why they were discussing an SS rank secret in the Hokage office anyway. If Danzo was as cunning as he was hinted to be, he would surely be suspicious.
“Can we hurry up with the training already?” asked Sasuke annoyed.
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Flashback:
Sasuke wanted to sleep when he was released in the morning, but he couldn’t. A lot had happened, he was apparently a traitor in the future… he managed to kill Itachi, but for some reason didn’t hold any vitriol for the man in the future. There was a scum who was grave robbing his brethren and… he will have a family in the future.
Sasuke was training in the compound instead of using the break for relaxing like the adults had suggested. To him training was the only solution to his doubts.
Sasuke knew that no one trusted him completely anymore, they were giving the benefit of doubt because of his redemption in the future, but sooner or later everyone would find out why the Uchiha had betrayed the village, Sasuke included.
He already had suspicions about the reason, he felt frustrated with the fact that Naruto had defeated Haku, he hated how easily he gave up his life for the annoying idiot, he hated how he was slowly warming up to them… he didn’t have time for things like this. He had to train, bonds will only hold him back… yes that was it.
No…it wasn’t because he was scared that his friendships will slowly heal the wounds in his heart… and make him forget his hatred, avenging his loss was his reason for existence… definitely that wasn’t the case.
No way Sasuke would ever admit to that.
However, after seeing the future he could have, he didn’t have the heart to even consider leaving the village anymore, he didn’t want to accept it, but he longed for what he had in the future, he had forgotten how it felt to have bonds… a family, and the future had reminded him of that.
He just hoped that he will gain the power to kill Itachi in the village. Although, with everyone’s distrust, he doubted they will let him get stronger anytime soon, especially if the cube showed events surrounding his betrayal.
Hopefully… future him didn’t do anything beyond reparable, he didn’t want to be locked up for crimes he didn’t commit.
Sasuke was in doubt, on one hand he thought bonds will hold him back, on the other hand he yearned for the future he could achieve here. But that would go against, everything Sasuke stood for. He had to maintain the pride of his clan, he had to be the strongest, he couldn’t let Naruto be ahead of him.
How could he hope to defeat Itachi if he wasn’t the strongest even in his age group? He had to surpass every record Itachi had set and he was falling behind already.
So, Sasuke trained, so that he could get rid of the uncertainty he was facing. He trained for 6 hours straight
Eventually Kakashi came and informed him there would be team meeting at 7. Kakashi felt cold today, Sasuke could feel his disappointment because of his future self’s decisions.
Kakashi told him to take a rest and have some food and disappeared after that. Sasuke couldn’t rest; however, he did take a shower and make some food.
He felt tired because of all the training he did today, but he couldn’t sleep anyway, so he read some scrolls, he knew he was close to master two new fire type jutsus, the fight with Orochimaru showed that he only needed to work on it for some weeks at most.
This time though, he would do it faster. He already had two tomoes in both of his eyes. He will analyze all the techniques shown in the future, he would steal it, even though the screen won’t be as effective as real life, it was better than nothing.
It was time for the team meeting, so he decided to stop reading and go meet his team. Hopefully, Kakashi won’t be late this time.
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An irritated Sasuke sighed again as Naruto didn’t stop bickering with an exasperated Kakashi.
“Naruto, STOP” shouted Sakura and punched Naruto in the head to make him stop. Kakashi sighed in relief that Naruto finally relented.
“Look, we can’t have missions, even D ranks, if we want to finish the contents quickly. Originally, you wouldn’t even be able to know about this, but unfortunately, your presence is required to access the future contents” said Kakashi.
“Hmph, fine. You will train us every day then” said Naruto pointing his finger at Kakashi.
“Yes sensei, I don’t want to waste my time. I want to start right now” said Sakura, again shocking everyone.
Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up.
“That’s what I’m talking about” said Naruto excitedly.
Kakashi groaned, but couldn’t disagree. He knew we needed to power up if we wanted to change the future, this was a heavy burden that they were taking.
“Before that, Sasuke, mind sharing what’s going on your mind… after everything that we’ve witnessed today, quite a revelation, wasn’t it?” asked Kakashi.
Sasuke stiffened, he did think, sooner or later his team will approach him about everything that had transpired. He should have expected this.
That didn’t stop him from scowling though.
Naruto and Sakura looked uncomfortable. Naruto didn’t want to talk about this, Sasuke had quickly figured that Naruto was trying to act that Sasuke hadn’t betrayed the village in the future when they met up. Now that Kakashi had opened the can of worms, Naruto shot him a hurt and betrayed look.
Sakura didn’t shoot him a betrayed look like Naruto, but she was sad too, Sasuke thought she looked scared, as if the notion of Sasuke leaving her wasn’t something she wanted to consider. Sasuke didn’t forget how much his opinion of her affected her apparently.
Sasuke didn’t want to be here and wanted to avoid the topic so he glared at Kakashi, opting to stay silent.
“That won’t work Sasuke… look, right now you have no one besides us to support you. If you won’t even talk to us, then you will have no support from anyone as we continue watching, do you want to be put in a cell?” asked Kakashi.
Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance, but his fists were clenched. Sasuke was nervous and he didn’t want to show it.
“You will condemn for me for actions I haven’t committed yet?” asked Sasuke.
“We are shinobi, Sasuke, we don’t play fair. Additionally, right now, everyone isn’t saying much because of the fact you returned to the village despite everything. Once, we get to see what made you unhinged enough to leave the village, even that consideration won’t be there, if you don’t show signs of improvement and I have heard enough from the Hokage to know that it will happen soon… yes Sasuke, you will abandon the village soon” said Kakashi.
Sasuke grimaced. Naruto’s and Sakura’s eyes widened in shock.
“What do you want me to do?” asked Sasuke tiredly, finally showing emotions. Kakashi had finally broken through Sasuke’s anti emotion barrier.
“It’s not just you, we had quite the tiring morning today… and no doubt we will go through more ordeals… in order for us to stay sane without breaking down… we have to be there for each other. I’m sure you have some questions regarding Sakura and Naruto too. There is no point in hiding things any longer” said Kakashi, with such a serious tone that none of the genins expected out of their sensei.
No one disagreed with their sensei… they couldn’t!
Kakashi beckoned for them to sit down.
‘I guess Sasuke was much more affected by the events than he let on… Naruto and Sakura too… I didn’t expect convincing them to be so easy… It’s necessary, I knew Naruto had a lot of issues and this is a good chance to address them… Sasuke clearly needs some guidance, I don’t think I can make him give up on revenge but I can make him open up… Sakura too, clearly, she had some baggage she kept hidden after the wave arc’ thought Kakashi.
I didn’t want to take on the role of their counselor. But I guess I don’t have a choice… ugh… I am not built for this.
“So, before this, let me tell you something, we will all shift to living in the Uchiha compound with Sasuke… No Sasuke, I’m not letting you live alone when you are clearly troubled…” said Kakashi.
Sasuke groaned.
“We have some time left for the meeting again. Let’s begin… Well, Naruto… we will begin with you then” said Kakashi.
“What? Why me? I was kicking ass today, I am the Hokage in the future too, other than my coolness what else do you want to know?” said Naruto.
“Naruto… you being the seal for the kyubi… we never knew about it; I am sure you didn’t want us to find out either” said Sakura softly.
Naruto’s bravado disappeared. He only nodded.
“Kakashi, you knew right… and you didn’t tell us?” accused Sasuke.
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“It’s not my place to tell you know” said Kakashi.
“So, like I asked earlier that’s how you defeated Haku in the wave right?” asked Sakura.
“Yes, Sakura-chan” said Naruto.
“Can you control the power then?” asked Sasuke.
“I… I don’t know teme, I have never tried to do so. I was super angry when Haku stuck you with those senbons and that led to me using the kyubi’s power. I wasn’t even sure that was the kyubi’s power until I saw my fight with snake-pedo today” said Naruto.
“So, does that mean the seal is breaking?” asked Sakura worried.
Naruto’s eyes widened. He frantically shook his head and tried to convince Sakura that he was not dangerous.
“Sakura-chan, believe me, I am not dangerous, I… I will never hurt you guys…” said Naruto.
“Calm down Naruto. I trust you; you are not the kyubi, we know that. But we need to be cautious of the kyubi too” said Sakura.
“Kakashi-sensei, do you have any idea about it?” asked Naruto.
“Hmm, I can confirm that the seal isn’t breaking. Naruto’s heightened emotions sometimes lead to him accessing the kyubi’s powers. I theorized that the fourth intentionally made the seal this way, so that whenever Naruto faces any danger, he would be protected” said Kakashi.
“Wow, that’s so cool” said Naruto impressed.
“Is something like that even possible?” asked Sasuke skeptical.
“If anyone could do it, it would be that man. He was the greatest fuinjutsu user in history” said Kakashi.
“Is that why the villagers hate you? Because you have the kyubi inside you?” asked Sakura.
Naruto nodded glumly.
“Why do you aspire to be Hokage then, for people who refuse to treat you like a human being?” asked Sasuke confused.
“They are just scared, they haven’t seen me for who I am, even if they do, they are scared of kyubi going out of control one day… I will prove them they are wrong. Besides, old man and Iruka-sensei believes in me, so if I get stronger, then… everyone will acknowledge my skills and respect me like they do, and the way for me to do that is to be Hokage, because everyone in the village respects them” said Naruto.
Kakashi smiled. Sakura looked at Naruto with admiration in her eyes.
‘Sensei, your son will never fall to hatred. He inherited Kushina-nee’s stubbornness’ thought Kakashi.
“Wow Naruto, you’re kinda amazing. Before forming a team, I thought you were just a child who does pranks because there is no one to discipline you… I’m sorry, I never realized how lonely you were. I thought the village was annoyed with you because of your pranks, but I never imagined there was such a twisted reason behind this… and despite this, you want to become Hokage, I thought you just had fake bluster, but you really did become Hokage in the future… and it’s deserved” said Sakura genuinely impressed by her colleague.
Naruto felt a bit hurt by the fact that Sakura thought so low of him… but she apologized and Naruto felt embarrassed by the praise Sakura was dishing out.
“Thank you Sakura-chan” said Naruto blushing, scratching his head shyly.
‘So you latched onto the first feeling of affection you found, and escaped your despair through that… that’s why you were scared of that Gaara guy, because you think he is stronger than anything you, because he is living in the world you have forsaken, he is validating his existence by killing people because no one wants him to live, whereas you are validating yourself by gaining the respect of people who despise you… yet you think you have it easy whereas Gaara took the harder path’ thought Sasuke internally, but didn’t speak it out loud. There was no reason to do so.
Strength gained through protecting vs strength gained through hatred against the world itself. It again reminded Sasuke of his dilemma.
“Sakura, why do you like me so much… why is my opinion so important to you?” asked Sasuke bluntly.
Sakura flinched.
“Hey, what do you mean teme? Leave her alone, you are lucky to even be loved by her even though you are just a bastard…” said Naruto enraged, however he was interrupted by Kakashi.
“Naruto… stop it, this is between them” said Kakashi sternly. Naruto lost his steam and looked away in annoyance.
“I…Sasuke-kun, if the reason turns out to be shallow… will you guys think less of me?” asked Sakura to her team.
“Sakura-chan, we are team. No matter what, we will support you. In fact, I would have let you two figure this out alone, but unfortunately Sasuke here has no tact” said Kakashi looking at Sasuke who just scoffed.
“You are forcing us to talk about things we don’t want to and hoping we can come to an understanding and stop things from spiraling further in the future. You have no right to talk about tact” said Sasuke.
“Sakura-chan, just be honest… I am with you no matter what” said Naruto grinning.
“Hn, not everyone has to have profound reason like dobe” said Sasuke.
Sakura gulped. She never expected this situation at all, but this could be a good chance for her to make Sasuke realize why she liked him… and make peace with herself and her mistakes caused due to her insecurities.
“Originally, I thought you were good looking… and everyone had a crush on you too… I wasn’t actually the popular girl I am now… I was picked on due to my hair in the earlier days… Ino saved me, but I wanted to grow out of her shadow, so I decided to be her rival in love… that’s why I became a shinobi in the first place. To stay close to you… shallow isn’t it… I never really liked you in the beginning… I just wanted to beat Ino and forced my crush on you Sasuke-kun… but I am not from any particular clan… I stick out due to my hair and large forehead… I don’t really have confidence in my skills other than studying… so if you compliment me, I feel validated, and I feel like I am comparable to Ino…I’m sorry, for being so shallow… but right now, after spending time with you… I genuinely want to grow close to you… I want to get to know you… I want to help you Sasuke-kun, so please… please don’t leave us” said Sakura, as she finished her heartfelt speech, she had tears in her eyes.
Naruto was stunned, he never thought Sakura, who he thought as perfect had such insecurity, he never could have guessed.
‘So that’s how it is… after the wave her insecurities only increased… that’s why after the first session of watching the future, she is so motivated, she feels like she could be someone capable, something she never really believed until now’ thought Kakashi.
“That’s ridiculous, you are more talented than you give yourself credit for” said Sasuke scoffing.
“Sasuke-kun!” said Sakura shocked.
“As Kakashi said in the morning, you are the no 1 kunoichi of our class, not even Ino could take that away from you. And your chakra control is naturally better than me and dobe. Stop underestimating yourself… you might be a burden now… but you saw your own potential in the future… also just because you are not on my and dobe’s level doesn’t mean you are useless. I noticed you thinking like that during your fight with Shin. My opinion of you shouldn’t matter, if you want to be truly strong, strong enough to not hold us back and take the life of shinobi seriously, then start believing in yourself first” said Sasuke sternly.
Sakura was on the verge of crying due to happiness, Sasuke sounded cold but everyone present could see the compliments he had for his teammate, and Sasuke uchiha was not someone who minced his words.
For Sakura who was insecure about her looks, skills and potential, someone who thought she was useless and will remain useless unlike her teammates, Sasuke’s words rejuvenated her.
“Thanks, Sasuke-kun” said Sakura as she wiped her tears.
“He is right, you need to give yourself more credit. You defeated someone like Shin in the future, someone even I am not sure that I could beat as of now. You have potential to do great things Sakura” said Kakashi.
“Right sensei, I will work hard and definitely catch up to you two. Even if you guys become more powerful than me in the future, I would find ways to contribute as a team member, and I will never hold you guys back… I will not dwell in my insecurities any longer” said Sakura determined.
“That’s the way to go, Sakura-chan” said Naruto encouragingly.
“Good” said Sasuke approving of her newfound motivation.
‘I never had any chance, Sakura-chan really loves the teme. My crush shouldn’t get between them’ thought Naruto sadly.
That said,
“Teme, why did you betray us?” asked Naruto.
“I don’t know… it hasn’t happened yet” said Sasuke shrugging.
“We know you are smarter than that Sasuke, you must have some idea… your teammates have opened up to you… shouldn’t you give them the respect they deserve” said Kakashi.
“Sasuke-kun, please talk to us” pleaded Sakura.
Sasuke relented.
“I have to kill my older brother; you guys know that…he took everything from me… he killed everyone in my clan… my father… my mother…” said Sasuke with so much hatred it took shook Sakura and Naruto.
They both knew the uchiha clan had some misfortune, but they didn’t know what exactly happened… although the viewing in the morning somewhat cleared that up… this is the first they were hearing about Sasuke’s motivation directly from his mouth.
“That’s the reason I exist… and as much as it pains me to admit it… he is a genius… someone I never was able to beat as a child, he single-handedly defeated the elites of the uchiha clan at the age of 13, just a year older than us… no doubt he is much stronger now. If I feel disappointed in the strength that I am gaining in the village… I may decide to leave, at least before today… I don’t have any intention of deserting now, that would be suicidal… plus I don’t want to train under someone who wants to possess me, if I could help it… I am not yet that desperate” said Sasuke.
“Yet you did so in the future” said Naruto cagily. Sasuke didn’t reply.
“If you want strength Sasuke, I assure you that you have the potential to surpass Itachi, this is coming from someone who worked with him in the ANBU. However, if you continue to be a flight risk, then I will not teach you anything… and as you said, we will have tight vigilance on you now… you won’t get a chance to run away” said Kakashi.
“I intend to keep the promise I made in the morning; I will learn from the mistakes I made in the future and make sure to not repeat them. If my future self decided to return, then clearly that is the optimal decision” said Sasuke.
Sakura sighed in relief. It didn’t look like he was lying.
Sasuke was not completely truthful either, however there is no way he would admit to feel inferior to Naruto, and how he felt that bonds tied him down. He was too prideful to do so.
Sasuke still had the dilemma from before, however for now, his desire to remain was greater than his rejection of bonds. So, while he did choose his words, he wasn’t completely lying either.
Hopefully nobody picked up on that.
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Hyuga Neji was a cynical man. He knew this better than anyone. But he never doubted his beliefs. He had to be right.
But what he witnessed in 3 hours today, almost destroyed everything he believed in.
He was in the Hyuga compound, he excused himself very quickly after being dismissed. The adults were staying for some kind of discussion. Lee and Tenten tried to chase after him to talk to him, but they had no chance, not with his Byakugan.
He was alone in his quarter. It wasn’t like anyone wanted to talk to him either, he wasn’t the most approachable man, and among the Hyuga being approachable was a weakness in general. They were a rigid clan, close minded and backwards.
For the first time in a long time, Neji Hyuga felt despaired.
His father had died due to the cruelty of the Hyuga clan, he hated how the system worked and his father wanted to change it, yet that led to him being punished by his own brother which ultimately led to his demise. He was a tool for the Hyuga clan, the main family that is.
Neji Hyuga despised it.
But he accepted this as fate.
Neji wanted nothing better than to make the Hyuga clan pay, have revenge against the main branch. He wanted to change the workings of his clan. But he couldn’t… for he was a slave.
His father couldn’t do it… why would he able to it?
If that was not fate… then why did his father had to die?
He died because Fate dictated him.
Neji Hyuga refused to accept anything else.
Hinata Hyuga infuriated him. She is a weakling, unbefitting of being the heiress. That’s why Hanabi replaced her, that was fate after all.
Good, main branch should suffer. They made his father suffer after all.
Neji was blinded by his hatred to the point he couldn’t differentiate between the main clan and Hinata.
Yet she tried to change, she tried to become strong, she tried to be acknowledged by Lord Hiashi… despite the fact she wasn’t suited to be a shinobi. It was her fate to be a slave to the clan as part of the branch family.
Neji hated her for that.
Neji knew better than anyone how it felt to be branded a mark, having no control over the circumstances.
It seemed Naruto Uzumaki, the pariah understood it too.
Yet HOW? How did he become the Hokage, he was supposed to be talentless, how did he manage to perfectly control his own chakra, much less the kyubi’s.
Even his display in the chunin exams were impressive, considering the handicap he faced against Kiba.
How did Naruto manage to get everyone to love and respect him. HOW DID HE BREAK HIS OWN FATE?
Neji couldn’t understand it. He punched the ground in frustration.
Unaware that Hinata was looking at him using Byakugan, filled with sympathy for her cousin.
‘Nee-sama’ thought Hinata, clenching her fists in frustration, as she couldn’t do anything for Neji.
She knew how Neji felt about her, Hinata trying to talk to him would result in him becoming even colder.
She didn’t know how she could help him.
‘What would Naruto-kun do in this situation?’ thought Hinata.
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It was 8 PM and everyone was gathered at the secret room, turned out Hiruzen had led them to one of his secret vaults. This was better than seeing such confidential information in the Hokage office for sure.
Everyone except Jiraiya was here, apparently, he had some work to do.
“Now then, shall we begin Naruto-kun?” asked Hiruzen, handing him the cube so that they could continue watching his future.
“Old man, I have a request” said Naruto.
“Hm, what is it?” asked Hiruzen.
“I want everyone of us to view their future too. Not just myself dattebayo” said Naruto.
Everyone was shocked at what Naruto said.
“But why?” asked Tenzo.
“Well, I alone won’t be changing the future right, we have to do it together. And didn’t Boruto mention all of our presence was a must? Then clearly, all of us genin will play an important role… also, I am sure they would want to see how they change in the future too” said Naruto.
“Indeed… I would not lie, I want to see my fight against Gaara fellow, and what else I achieve in the future” said Lee.
“Hm, why not. This would be beneficial to everyone” said Hiruzen. He was all about fostering the next generation.
“But Hokage-sama, do we have the time for this?” asked Inoichi.
“I expected something like this might happen in the future, especially when it unlocked Shippuden. The part 1 would hardly take one or two days extra. We can arrange it” said Hiruzen.
Everyone believed in their leader, as he had already watched the entire part 1 beforehand.
“Go ahead everyone” said Kakashi.
“Oh man, I am so excited” said Kiba,
Everyone in the Konoha 12 infused their chakra in the cube one by one. Naruto was the last one to do so, he approached the cube and infused his chakra in the cube. After he was done, he stepped back.
Everyone eagerly awaited the viewing from the cube.
The cube glowed and expanded into a rectangular box as it did in the morning.
The scene had started.