A/N
I'm publishing this completely on a whim. And in some tiny hope to hype myself of writing an update for my other stories, because my mind is drawing a blank for them. It's so hot where I live at the moment, I think my brain is starting to melt. So, my apologies for the poor quality, but this idea was stalking me for quite some time now and I'll make this into my relax story. Don't expect super serious plot, it's just my way to have fun by smacking overpowered Naruto into the middle of everything and see what happens. Also, to satiate my need of writing fluff. 'Cause little Naruto deserves hugs and hair ruffles and head pats and just be loved and feel needed!
Warning: this story is more character-driven with a big focus on family/friendship and character interactions rather than action. Also, please note that when I say 'ridiculously OP', I really mean it. This story is EXTREMELY SELF-INDULGENT! I write what I want, but you might not like it. Deal with it.
Btw, in my headcanon, Kaguya as she was in canon doesn't exist. The Juubi is the final boss thus it's much more godlike than its pathetic version in canon. In addition, I refuse to add Asura/Indra reincarnation nonsense into any of my stories, so it doesn't exist either.
A/N (January, 2024)
I'm NOT giving my permission to put my fics on youtube. No matter if it's text-to-speech program or read by real person, no matter what kind of credits you give me, you DO NOT have my permission to do that.
More than that, I'm NOT giving my permission to put my fics on your p-a-t-r-e-o-n-s. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT put my fics on your p-a-t-r-e-o-n-s. You do NOT have my permission to do so. I don't I want to find my fic posted on some bastard's p-a-t-r-e-o-n. NO permission from me to do so. NO. NO. NO. You hear me, content farming bastards? I'm NOT giving my permission.
English is not my first language. This is not betaed either.
Lest you fade here all alone
Chapter 1
Naruto was perched on the edge of the two storey building's roof, half-hidden in the shadow of its chimney. One of his legs was dangling in the air while the other was folded with his arm resting against its knee. His cheek sat in his palm as he observed the district in front, his usually bright azure eyes now lackluster and distant.
After a moment, Naruto's folded leg slipped down and he heaved a deep sigh, leaning backward on both his arms. A frown found its way onto his brow and the blue eyes briefly flashed red as the anger rose like a tidal wave inside him.
He was too late! All the years of research, all those sleepless nights, all the preparations, all the power that he poured to make this happen, and he arrived too late!
Well, not exactly too late, but he would have preferred much earlier. Much, much earlier. As in, in time to save his parents.
Naruto let his arms slid to the sides, sprawling on the roof with a huff. He supposed he would just have to work with what he had. Could have been worse. He should be thankful that he had something to work with at all.
Uchihas were still alive. But he could feel the negativeness, the darkness, the evil festering like an infected wound, oozing blood and pus. It was too advanced already, there was no easy way to stop it now.
He scrunched his face. He wondered what would happen if he allowed the clan to have their coup. Nothing good, that was for sure. People would die. Innocent people that had no place to die in the petty squabbles between stuck-up ninja clans.
The blond abruptly sat up. Then equally abruptly jumped down from the roof, landing smoothly in a crouch on the ground and eliciting a scared yelp from a rotund woman who was unfortunate enough to walk past at that exact moment.
"My apologies," Naruto apologized with a small polite smile as he stood and dusted himself off.
The woman was now gaping at him, her mouth opening and closing as if she wanted to say something but was too shocked to squeeze a word out.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that before catching a sight of himself at the reflection of the nearby window. "Oh." He chuckled. "Right, right." He whipped his hand up and folded fingers into a half sign.
A puff of smoke and gone was a young man with brilliant azure eyes, sunshine colored hair that framed his somewhat round face, gone was his black jacket, beige pants, and short-sleeved orange haori, decorated by black flames on the edges. He was still young, but his hair was now brown and the eyes were grey while clothes changed into simple civilian attire. Nothing stood out of this man, just another unremarkable face in the crowd.
"Have a nice day," Naruto said, grinning. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and nonchalantly walked away, leaving the speechless woman behind.
There was no time or need to mope around. He was no Uchiha. He was an Uzumaki! The member from the most kickass ninja clan in history! He was also a Namikaze! The son of the most kickass ninja in history!
Naruto abruptly stopped when an idea popped into his head. A grin spread across his face. Well, that was certainly an interesting idea and absolutely worth considering. As much as he loved Konoha, he was not staying here. Even if he wanted, after what he'd probably end up doing, there would be no place for him in this village.
With a start, he realized that this thought didn't sadden or unsettle him as much as he assumed it would. Huh.
Someone bumped into his legs from behind and his arm shot out to stop that someone from falling on the ground. He turned then and looked down.
A pair of charcoal black eyes stared back at him under the mess of the black hair. Naruto could almost envision the onyx bleeding into the red with only three drops of it left to spin around the pupils.
He smiled and let go of the young Uchiha's arm. The child quickly scrambled back.
"Sasuke, I told you not to run in the streets."
Naruto's gaze flicked from the tiny counterpart of his best friend to the older boy as Itachi approached. And while the latter's face was a carefully crafted blank mask, the blond noticed some of the fond exasperation and worry leaking out into the tightness around his dark eyes. So young, so virtuous. Burdened, but not yet broken.
"I'm sorry," Itachi intoned, giving Naruto a small bow and pushing his little brother's head down too. "My little brother can be careless sometimes."
"But, niisan!" the kid whined.
The preteen was having none of that. "Sasuke, apologize to this man."
As Sasuke puffed his cheeks in a self-righteous pout, Naruto's smile only grew more genuine.
If the fate proclaimed that the innocence of these two souls had to be snuffed out, then he would put his foot down and stop it. He arrived in time to do that at least.
"I'm sorry."
Naruto chuckled. The apology was delivered like an accusation as if he was at fault here. Little Sasuke was so cute. "No worries, kiddo," he assured, reaching to ruffle his hair. The way Itachi instantly tensed and went on full alert didn't slip through his keen observations. Littlest Uchiha wasn't too happy about his action either, though for different reasons.
Itachi gathered his brother, bowed one more time as he bid their goodbyes, and ushered the boy away.
Naruto watched them go, marveling at Sasuke's beaming grin pointed at his older brother and the way Itachi poked his forehead, his lips curling into a minuscule smile of his own.
Family. They were family.
His chest tightened, and the blond quickly turned around. With a scowl plastered across his features, he sauntered off.
After an hour of aimless wandering around Konoha, Naruto came upon a very strange phenomenon – the surrounding noise suddenly hushed, everyone's voices dropping into hisses and whispers, and the crowd parted like the sea in front of the saint, giving way for someone.
For someone small and blond and with his whole posture set into guarded defiance.
A woman standing right next to Naruto sneered, "What a nasty little thing, isn't it?
The man glanced at her, his expression going flat with practiced blankness almost immediately. "Really?" he drawled, sweeping the crowd with his icy gaze. He looked back at the woman and grinned. "But all I can see is a bunch of big nasty things."
His grin was lazy, dark, ravenous in the way only truly feral things were, and there was something innately unsettling about the way those intense eyes fixed on her. They slowly bled into glowing crimson, pupils transforming into vertical slits, leering at her. The grin stretched wider, revealing sharp, prolonged canines, and turned sharper, giving the image of being more than just slightly mad.
The woman screamed, stumbling backward from him and into the elderly man.
"Misaki! What's wrong?" the man inquired. Other people quickly surrounded them in a circle.
"He– He– He– The eyes! His eyes!"
Everyone looked at the brown-haired youth.
Naruto blinked his very normal, very common grey eyes. "Something wrong with my eyes?" he asked innocently, seemingly very confused, slightly annoyed, and definitely offended.
The woman's arms trembled, but she was still pointing at the disguised blond in accusation. "They were red! Like– Like– Like the Kyu–!"
The elderly slapped a palm on her mouth. "Are you crazy?" he hissed, shooting a nervous glance around. Then he added in a much lower voice, audible only to the woman, "You know that you can't talk about it while that thing is here."
Naruto scoffed, dismissing these idiots as subjects not worth his time. He looked to the side, catching the wide-eyed gaze of his tiny counterpart from afar.
The boy leaned around the corner of the house, clutching tightly at it, as he observed the scene. He probably fled into the alley as soon as the wretched woman screamed in fright, guided by the self-preservation instinct in case someone decided to take the 'justice' in their own hands.
Naruto winked at the kid playfully.
The latter's blue eyes grew even bigger, almost threatening to just jump out of their sockets, before he ducked behind the wall and out of sight.
The man sniggered as he slipped from the crowd unnoticed and strolled to the same general direction. It was time to meet his… what? Nephew?
The corner of Naruto's mouth quirked up.
Yup. Nephew would do just fine.
With his heart hammering in his chest, six years old Naruto peaked around the corner of the shop's door inside.
Besides the shop owner behind the counter, there were no other people.
The boy grinned. Lucky~! He walked in, winced when the old man glared. However, he didn't ask him to leave – yet – so Naruto would count that as a win.
He made his way through the shelves towards a vegetable stand. He had just learned in the pre-academy that ninja had to be healthy in body, mind, and spirit. While Naruto couldn't think how he could keep his mind and spirit healthy, he remembered Teuchi-san once mentioning that vegetables were good for growing boys.
Little blond's heart almost exploded in excitement as he zeroed on all the greenery at the back of the shop. He was going to be the best ninja of them all, 'ttebayo!
Suddenly, tin cans with tomatoes drawn on them on his left caught his attention and he halted. He knew how Sasuke Uchiha liked tomatoes. All teachers hailed that boy as a genius, so he must have known what to eat to be that good, right?
Naruto glanced at the fresh vegetables, back at the cans with pickled tomatoes, then down at its price. He pushed hand into his pocket and pulled out all the money he had. Despite knowing exactly how much he had, he still counted it again – yeah, he knew how to count, 'ttebayo!
Glancing back at the price, the boy grimaced. "Keep one's body healthy…" he muttered, taking a deep breath and snatching one tin can off the shelf. Then he trotted back to the counter.
The shop owner sneered as Naruto approached. The boy was expecting it. Though it still hurt – why did they hate him so much? – he ignored it as best as he could. Barely reaching the counter's edge, he pushed the can on top of it and waited until the old man asked for money.
The man barked out the number that was much higher than the one written on the price tag.
"But it's not right!" Naruto cried out in objection, his boisterous temper overpowering his fears. "Over there it's said–"
"That's the price for normal humans," the owner growled. "And this is the price for your kind! Take it or go away!"
The little Jinchuuriki stubbornly ignored the stinging in his eyes. He didn't have that kind of money! "But–"
"Just be happy that I'm selling you anything, you worthless brat!" the old man bellowed, grabbing the can and flinging it to the small boy in his unreasonable anger.
Naruto shut his eyes on instinct, coverings his head with his arms to protect it. His breath hitched as he waited for the impact, for the pain to come, for more hurtful words…
None of that happened, however.
Confused, he dared to crack open one eye and peek at the stupid man. What he saw was a hand holding the can just an inch from his face. Naruto blinked, then looked up, up, up, and his eyes widened. It was the same guy who winked at him earlier!
"Ne, old man," the stranger spoke, his lips tilted oddly into a smile that was neither friendly nor particularly reassuring, "what's up with you throwing such heavy objects at the innocent kids?"
The shop owner flustered at the unexpected appearance of another customer. "That's– He's– He's–" He motioned at Naruto, lacking any words or reasons to explain his animosity towards the child. "He's a thief!" he finished lamely.
"Reaaaaaally now?" the stranger drawled at the same time as Naruto bristled at the accusation.
"Am not!" he shouted indignantly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna become the Hokage, 'ttebayo!"
The boy spun on his heel and sprinted out of the shop. His eyes watered again, but he brushed the tears away angrily. He would never buy vegetables ever again! If he had to, he was going to live out of instant ramen to the end of days!
As the small blond disappeared, the stranger turned back to the shop owner, his mouth stretching into a grin that appeared way too predatory to be anything but normal. "Now that the audience is gone," he said, putting the tin can back on the counter gently.
The shop owner missed the dangerous expression on the other man's face, because his eyes were glued to the exit where the hateful brat disappeared. "Oh, thank goodness, the demon brat is gone!" he cheered. "I thought I'll have to kick him out again."
There was a metallic crumple sound, like the tin can being squeezed and crushed, and then a loud pop. The content of pickled tomatoes spilled all over the counter, red juice dripping on the floor with a rhythmic plop-plop-plop.
"Oh my," the brown-haired youth chuckled darkly as he uncurled his fingers from the squashed tin can one at a time. "A faulty product."
Before the owner could even comprehend what he did, the stranger fisted his hand into the lapel of his shirt and yanked him down. His head hit the wooden surface of the wooden counter with a splash of the pickled tomatoes, momentarily stunning him. There was a hand gripping him at the side of his head, pressing him down and holding him firmly in place. All the man could see was the tin can in front of his nose, folded in half like a wet tissue.
"If you ever treat that boy like that again," the stranger whispered smoothly into his victim's ear, voice eerie and menacing, claws digging into the man's skin, drawing blood, "I'll pop your head like this pickled tomato can."
The pressure eased at the same time as the small breeze ruffled the shop owner's hair. Terrified, he whipped his head up to look around.
The shop was empty and silent with no one in sight.
Soundlessly, Naruto landed on top of the Yondaime's head, carved into the Hokage's Mountain. It was one of his father's old Hiraishin beacons that he reactivated upon arrival together with adding dozens of new ones. He could travel in and out and around Konoha as he pleased.
The blond smirked when he saw the small hunched figure sitting near the edge. He figured that he would find his tiny counterpart in this place – it always was his special spot, his refuge where he could weep or went his rage in peace, without any of hateful and judging eyes.
He had already sent a shadow clone disguised as the little Naruto to lure his ANBU guard away. They were very far from this place at the moment and Naruto could feel his clone guiding him even further. He had all the time in the world to talk with the little fellow.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Naruto rocked on his heels and spoke, "You ran away from me two times already."
The boy flinched, not expecting anyone to find him here or even want to find him at all, and he scrambled to his feet, whirling around.
Naruto grinned at him.
Upon seeing the same stranger for the third time, the kid's big eyes widened and he took a fearful step back.
The man's smile became a bit strained. "Be careful, you're too close to the edge," he warned.
"I'm not a thief!" the boy declared angrily, taking another step backward in his misplaced defense. "I didn't steal anything! I did nothing wrong!"
The smile was now completely gone from the adult's face, giving way to the worried frown. "I know that, little Naruto," he soothed, lifting his hands up in an attempt to placate an agitated child. "I'm not here because of that. Just want to talk with you."
The boy eyed him suspiciously. "Talk about wha–!" he didn't finish because his foot slipped on the edge of the rock and he tumbled down with a cry. He desperately tried to grab onto the rocky surface and stop his decent towards the imminent death. However, he was sliding too fast and his hands were too small, so all he managed was bruising his palms into the hard stone before he was left falling through the air.
All of a sudden, arms embraced him and pressed securely to the chest. Naruto latched onto that someone's clothes for dear life, shaking and whimpering, eyes shut tightly in fear.
One blink later, they were standing back on top of the Yondaime's head, a slightly disheveled brown hair and a trembling child the only indications of what could have been a lethal accident.
"Hey, that's okay, I got you," the man spoke softly, running his fingers through the spiky blond mop to calm the boy. "It's alright now. You're safe."
After what seemed an eternity, Little Naruto calmed down. It took all of his courage to lift his head and peek at the stranger's face. He had expected to see disgust, hate, contempt – the usual, really – but found none of that. There was a kind smile and warm eyes, if slightly exasperated, and it all made him strangely fuzzy inside, causing his heart to speed up. It was the first time anyone looked at him with that kind of expression – even Jiji's paled in comparison – and on top of that, he was held in an embrace and got his head stroked.
As if he was someone precious.
Ah. He must have fallen to his death then.
"Are you a ghost?"
The man chuckled, such a pleasant and carefree sound. Naruto felt his heart crumbling. This was definitely not real. No one laughed like that in his presence.
"May as well be one," the stranger replied cheerfully before fixing the child with a serious gaze. "Can I trust you not to jump off this mountain in an attempt to escape me?"
The boy's cheeks flushed and he squirmed. The adult put him down on his feet gently and patted his head, receiving another deer-in-the-light, shocked look.
And that's then little Naruto's stomach reminded about itself with a loud grumble.
The man merely grinned at that. "How about I cook you dinner?" he offered. "I'm rather a good cook."
The boy said nothing, just stared at him. The only one who ever cooked something for him was Teuchi-san, but the latter sold ramen so he cooked for everyone. Maybe this strange man was also selling food? "Ramen?" he asked in a stunned whisper.
"How about something different? I can't compete with Ichiraku Ramen, sorry," the adult Naruto laughed goodheartedly. Humming softly, he contemplated for a bit. "Something with pickled tomatoes?" he tempted and smirked when the kid's bright eyes sparkled. "You can wait in your apartment. I'm gonna pick some groceries and be there shortly."
"…Really?"
"Really."
Slowly, tentatively a toothy grin spread across the boy's face. He didn't know who this man was, or why he cared, or even how he knew where he lived – all these questions flew right over his head – all that mattered was that someone wanted to spend time with him. Willingly. And cook dinner for him, even if it wasn't ramen. And maybe they would eat it together too, like, like…
Like family. Or at least friends.
"Yatta!" little Naruto exclaimed, fist-pumping the air.
The disguised blond laughed at his enthusiasm. "Alright, little kit, we can talk more at your home," he said with a smile, giving another hair ruffle.
The boy seemed to lean into the touch. He snapped out of his reverie when the adult withdrew his hand and ushered him to go. With a grin that threatened to split his face in two, the little Jinchuuriki gave an exuberant hand wave as a goodbye and dashed towards the staircase.
Naruto watched him go, wondering if what he was doing should be considered the extreme of selfishness. He had decided to give everything for his young counterpart – so basically for himself – to make the boy, who had been martyred for the survival of the village, happy and to feel loved and needed. They both could use to experience a real family.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Naruto dismissed it. They were not the same person anymore. The moment he stepped into this reality, this world gained an existence of its own, branched out from that point towards a different direction. Even if the outsider like him wouldn't do anything, his presence alone caused waves of alteration in this universe.
But not trying to prevent tragedies wouldn't make any sense. These people were not Naruto's loved ones he had lost in his own dimension, despite wearing their faces – one of the reasons why he didn't want to stay in Konoha – but he still cared about them and wanted to help them. He would not allow his new reality to follow the example of his previous one.
Naruto finally shifted to turn around. He flashed to an empty alley near the Konoha's market just as he finished the action and strolled into the street without as much as a pause.
The world could handle only one Naruto Uzumaki, therefore he was ready to relinquish his rights to the name. He was so much more than just Naruto Uzumaki now.
As the man stopped at one of the vendors to inspect vegetables for sale – only the highest quality would do for his newly adopted nephew – he pondered on what he should call himself now.
Are you a ghost?
A mischievous smirk graced his lips.
Rei* would be his new name. Rei Uzumaki. Or Rei Namikaze, it mattered not which surname others preferred to use. He was both and he didn't plan to hide it forever.
* – 霊, "spirit, ghost"