A conundrum
“This is strange,” you mutter to yourself, scouring the streets for a certain shade of blonde. You were certain that it was around the time that that event had occurred. But no matter where you looked, be it within the village or the surrounding forests, you couldn’t find your target.
‘I’ve looked practically everywhere,’ you thought in frustration, giving up the hunt for the day and heading to the store to pick up some groceries. ‘The only places left are the clan compounds and the apartments. But he won’t be found for another year, so he has to be around somewhere.’
While skimming the store for the stuff you wanted, you caught sight of your face reflected on the surface of the metal edges of a display and you stopped.
“It’s been two years, huh…”
The thing was, you weren’t the original owner of the body you were currently inhabiting. Two years ago, you had woken up to find yourself in a strange room filled with medical equipment. The last thing you had remembered was falling asleep over your homework.
Imagine your shock when medics had rushed into your room, exclaiming that you had finally woken up from a year-long coma.
It had been disconcerting to realize that you weren’t in the world you knew, not to mention it wasn’t even your own body. But it hadn’t taken long for you to realize where you were: inside the world of a popular manga, Naruto.
For the first few days, you had drifted along listlessly, simply following the orders of the medics in order to recuperate. Then you had snapped back to reality, determined to live in this new world if there was no other choice. Careful observation had provided the following facts: the name of the person you had become was Asano Maki, a twenty-year-old Chuunin, who had been injured during the Kyuubi attack and you had no family or close friends.
In a way, that had been fortunate; you had no memories of the original Maki and claiming amnesia could only go so far.
A few months of physical therapy had cleared you for light duty and a desk job at the Missions Center had been offered, which you had gladly accepted. Even if you were now a shinobi, you were still a person from a modern time and you had no intention of killing someone. The mere thought still gave you shivers. You only trained to keep yourself in shape and to defend yourself.
Once you had become a little more settled in your new life, you had begun to think of ways you could change the world. After all, you had read the entirety of the manga and knew what would happen.
“But what can I, a desk Chuunin, do in this world?” you grumbled to yourself, throwing some apples into your basket. ‘I have average skills, no desire for battle and if I speak up about my knowledge, I’d be locked up in T&I before I can even blink.’
Nope, you did not want to pay Morino Ibiki a visit, or Mitarashi Anko.
The only thing you could possibly do was to show a little kindness to the protagonist of the story, Uzumaki Naruto.
He had suffered a lot as a child, under the hatred of the villagers. Whenever you heard anyone badmouth him, you had to restrain yourself from shaking them and screaming in their faces. That was a one-way ticket to T&I, therefore you had to settle for glaring at them.
You had decided then, that you would be nice to him. Of course, you couldn’t adopt him or anything, but once the orphanage threw him out, you could find him and bring him to the Hokage, maybe even drop by wherever Naruto would stay and help the kid.
There was only one tiny snag in your brilliant plan.
The damn kid was nowhere to be found.
‘Seriously, where could a three-year-old be?!’
Two months had passed since your hunt for Konoha’s Jinchuuriki began and you still hadn’t found any clues about the child’s whereabouts. The only thing you knew was that he wasn’t dead; the manga proved that.
However, you had a new dilemma.
‘Should I inform someone of Kumo’s plan?’ you thought, biting your lip as you watched the procession for the Kumo nin from your window. ‘I don’t have any proof, though. And I’m not good enough to intercept that guy when he kidnaps Hinata-chan.’
Sighing, you resignedly drew the curtains and crawled into your bed, trying to ignore the ball of guilt making itself a home in your stomach.
You did not sleep that night.
Morning came and you reported for duty, feeling anxious. But when you entered the Missions Center, the atmosphere wasn’t what you had expected. Instead of the gloom and doom at being cornered by Kumo, there was a jubilant air.
“What’s going on?”
One of your co-workers looked at you and grinned, “Hey, Asano! You haven’t heard the news yet?”
“What news?”
“You see, Kumo tried to kidnap the Hyuuga Heiress and the Uzumaki girl, but Uzumaki was crafty and took them down with seals,” the other Chuunin explained gleefully. “She foiled their plan!”
‘What the hell?’ you thought faintly, mind racing. That was not what was supposed to happen.
“Wait, what Uzumaki girl?”
The man looked at you weirdly. “The Uzumaki girl who arrived in Konoha a couple of months ago. She hasn’t been seen in the village often, but almost everyone has heard of her.”
“…I see.”
No, you didn’t.
‘I didn’t realize that I was so out of the loop,’ you thought, sitting down at your usual desk. Listening in on the chatter, you learnt that a young girl named Uzumaki Hikari had joined the village. No one knew much about her, apart from the fact that she was an orphan.
‘The only Uzumaki that should be alive now according to the manga are Nagato and Karin. Who is this girl then?’
The timing of her arrival also coincided with when Naruto was supposed to be abandoned. A theory began to form in your mind: the unknown girl had to have something to do with the situation. She could be a real Uzumaki; perhaps her family had escaped Uzushio somehow, but you had no idea how she had ended up in Konoha.
‘Might as well find out who she is.’
You spent the few days looking up everything you could get your hands on about Uzumaki Hikari, as well as racking your brain for every tiny bit of info on the Uzumaki Clan. There was actually less than you had expected, both on the girl and on the clan.
Even the history books in the library were of no use.
“Got to do it the old-fashioned way then,” you mumbled to yourself, checking out a few old scrolls you had found on the Uzumaki Clan from the library.
As luck would have it, you spotted a flash of crimson in the corner of your eye and you turned around, finally seeing the mysterious redhead in the flesh.
She was younger than you had expected, appearing to be only around six or seven years old, verifying what her file had said. But the most startling fact was that she looked like a miniature version of Uzumaki Kushina, apart from her blue eyes.
“What the…is she related to Kushina somehow?”
Even Hikari’s style of clothing resembled Kushina’s Academy days.
You gaped at the girl, forgetting what you had been doing earlier. Hikari was laughing, a Uchiha boy with curly hair rolling his eyes at her and shoving her playfully. The two looked like close friends, even if the Uchiha was a few years older.
As you watched, the two were joined by the young Uchiha Heir, Itachi slipping out from the nearby dango stand with what you assumed was a box of the sweet treat. All three of them appeared to be very comfortable with each other.
Someone bumped into you and you jolted, uttering a quick apology to the person before looking back in the direction of the three children. To your disappointment, they had vanished.
Sighing, you tucked the scrolls under your arm and turned in the direction of your home, intent on your research. You had quite the mystery on your hands and you didn’t know what to make of it.
Years had passed since that day you had first seen Uzumaki Hikari and though you had seen her in the market district a few times, you had never interacted. You still didn’t know what to make of the anomaly in what you knew of the original story.
‘Whatever’s changed has to be because of her,’ you thought. You still hadn’t seen a single hair of Uzumaki Naruto and according to rumors, which were credible if the source were the gate guards, there were two more Uzumaki in the village, a mother-daughter pair. ‘Hikari is the only oddity I’ve seen so far…’
You had even had the thought that perhaps Uzumaki Hikari was someone like you, someone who knew the original story and was trying to change it. It would make a lot of sense but you had no way of verifying that.
“But…will she be able to change that?”
Because, according to the manga, the Uchiha Massacre was supposed to happen soon.
“Hikari has already done a lot,” you muttered to yourself as you looked down at your notes, comparing the original story against what you had experienced. The Hyuuga Affair had changed in Konoha’s favor, Karin and her mother were in Konoha, and Gaara was in Konoha too. “The effects of her actions, even indirectly, have reached as far as Suna. Well, at least Gaara is happy.”
The only major incident left in the near future was the Uchiha Massacre and if that didn’t occur, you would have definite proof that either Hikari had knowledge of the future or she was someone extremely observant and manipulative.
“I’ve got about two years…let’s wait and see what happens.”
You did not need to wait that long.
One fine morning that very same week, you heard the news that Danzo had been taken off the Council. You barely held in the noise of confusion that wanted to erupt out of your mouth and you grilled your friends for the smallest morsel of information.
Unfortunately, they knew very little. Danzo had apparently committed a huge crime that had resulted in him being punished by losing his position of an Advisor, but no one knew what exactly the crime was.
The only other interesting piece of information was that the Clan Heads had appeared to be furious at the Sandaime, the worst being the Uchiha Clan Head.
‘That’s it; I’m talking to that Uzumaki, now.’
You knew where she lived, so the instant you were done for the day, you zipped off to the part of the village that people hardly ventured to. The house loomed in the distance and you slowed down, hesitant to approach now that you were actually nearby.
“What do I even say to her?”
“You can start by telling me what the hell you’re doing here.”
Something sharp and pointy was pressed to your neck and you flinched, both at the sudden voice and the weapon held at your throat. Immediately, you raised your hands, blurting out, “I’m not an enemy!”
“I’ll be the one to decide that. Turn around, slowly. Any suspicious movements and you can kiss your life goodbye.”
You swallowed harshly, feeling the blade press against your skin at the movement. It had been a bad idea to barge in like what you had done, but it was too late for regrets. Still keeping your hands up, you turned around inch by inch, your eyes meeting a pair of narrowed blue ones.
Uzumaki Hikari was standing a few feet away, a golden chakra chain extended from her back, that you belatedly realized was what was being held to your throat. Her face was set in a scowl and her arms were crossed over her chest; she radiated an aura of danger, despite the fact that she was only ten years old.
“Who are you?”
“A-Asano Maki. I’m a Chuunin!”
“I don’t care about your rank,” Hikari snapped, still glaring at you. “Why are you investigating me?”
That surprised you. “You know that?”
A thin eyebrow arched up in judgement and the girl replied, “Your actions are obvious and I have eyes everywhere.”
“Then…then why didn’t you do anything until now?”
Hikari shrugged, still not losing the threatening air. “Because you only seemed interested in me and didn’t approach me either. You’re too careless to be a spy but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a defector.”
You started to panic, scrambling for the words to explain about yourself to the redhead. If the rumors were true, she was close to a lot of higher-ups in Konoha and could easily make them believe you were a traitor. “W-Wait! It’s not like that! I just wanted to know why everything’s different!”
The girl’s aura turned colder by a few degrees at the words you had just blurted out, expression darkening further as she walked closer to you. “‘Everything’s different’?” she repeated. “Explain.”
“Yes! But…um, could you tone it down a little, please?”
Your legs were shaking under the killing intent radiating from the young girl and you didn’t think you could keep yourself from collapsing if she continued like that. Fortunately, Hikari took pity on you and relented, making you heave a sigh of relief. The chakra chain at your neck remained though, letting you know that your head could go flying off if she didn’t believe you.
“The thing is, I’m from a different world,” you started, closely watching the redhead’s expression. Her frown twisted a bit but she gestured for you to continue. “The shinobi villages don’t exist and neither do shinobi, at least not like here. Even the very geographical layout is different.”
“And? What does that have to do with me?”
‘Huh, she doesn’t seem to think I’m lying,’ you noted with a great deal of surprise. The normal reaction would be to scoff at your explanation and not listen to you further. ‘Either she’s a superb actress, or she’s genuinely listening to me.’
“For me, until a few years ago, this world was only a story. I was just an average student and then one day I woke up in this body,” you pointed at yourself, shrugging helplessly. “The original fell into a coma after the Kyuubi incident. I suppose you could say that they’re dead.”
“Get to the point.”
You spilled everything to the impassive redhead, from what you knew of the world of Naruto and how things were different from what you had expected.
“You’re the only one who’s new,” you told her truthfully, hoping that she wasn’t going to decide to simply end your life. It was clear that Hikari had high combat abilities, far greater than yours and she was probably only humoring you because of your outlandish tale. You really should have thought things through earlier. “There was never a character named Uzumaki Hikari in the story.”
With that, you fell silent, waiting for the girl’s verdict.
After what seemed like an eternity, Hikari sighed. “Of course there wouldn’t be,” she muttered, more likely to herself than to you.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Hikari waved a dismissive hand, ignoring your confusion. The chakra chain pointed at your throat vanished and you took a deep breath, one that tasted of relief. “You can go. Rest assured; things are going to be very, very different from the story you know.”
The redhead spun on her heel, heading in the direction of her house. It really seemed like she was going to let you go, without any further questions. “Wait!” you called after her, scrambling to catch up. “Aren’t you going to ask me more stuff?”
“Nope.”
“…you believe me?”
Hikari shrugged. “I can tell you’re not lying. Even if you were, as long as you’re not a threat to those precious to me, I could care less. I can end your life at any time I want, after all.”
The girl disappeared in a Shunshin the next moment, leaving you standing in the forest, dumbfounded.
The world went on and you didn’t really interact much with Uzumaki Hikari after that one incident. There was little you could do and less that you could offer, even if she had wanted or needed your assistance. Instead, you observed and noted everything that diverged from the original story.
The way that events that were averted so masterfully, both inside and outside Konoha…
It was almost like Hikari knew the future.
But what shocked you to the core in the end was the finale occurring, without any of the main characters being involved.
Otsutsuki Kaguya had never been revived, Zetsu’s plans stopped before they could even take off.
Hell, even Uchiha Obito was walking around, shadowing Kakashi or one of his friends around Konoha. The first time you had seen the scarred man, you nearly had had a heart attack.
“You!” you yelled, barging into the Uzumaki house at a time when you knew that the kids were at one of the training grounds. “Uzumaki Hikari!”
Said redhead looked at you blankly, her head pillowed on Uchiha Itachi’s lap and a snoring Uchiha Shisui sprawled over her body. The oddly intimate scene threw you off and you paused mid-step, wondering if you were going to get eviscerated.
‘Probably not,’ you thought. ‘If that was going to happen, Hikari would have done it long ago.’
“Asano Maki, was it?” Itachi queried lightly with a bland smile; it looked like the Uchiha was wondering whether to let you be or chop off your head. It was subtly terrifying.
“Y-Yeah…anyway! Uzumaki Hikari!”
The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance. “What?”
“You’re a time traveler!” you shouted with frustration, pointing at her accusingly. “That’s how you know things you shouldn’t and why you shouldn’t have been here!”
“Did that really take you six years to figure out?” Hikari asked, obviously amused. “And that’s not really correct. Close, but not correct.”
You gaped, opening and closing your mouth like a fish at the confirmation given so nonchalantly. “Then…what are you?”
“A dimension traveler.”
“Oh. Like me, huh? That’s why you believed me back then.”
“No, not like you. I’m from a dimension parallel to this one, not from a totally different one.”
That would explain why Hikari was skilled in the shinobi arts, unlike you who had to rely on muscle memory and training. She had been a kunoichi right from the start.
“Wait…you said parallel.”
Hikari hummed in agreement. “Yes.”
“Who were you back in your dimension?”
She shot you a mischievous smirk, blue eyes glittering. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”