[Chapter Size: 2700 Words.]
Canon World, Konoha, 63.
...
...
Naruto, along with the others, arrived at the Village Gate. As they passed through the entrance, the chuunin guards stared at them in surprise.
"Look, it's Captain Yamato... and Naruto...", some of them recognized them, as Naruto's team had become quite famous in Konoha for facing the Akatsuki, ever since the events of rescuing the Kazekage, fighting Orochimaru, and defeating several enemies who attacked the Land of Fire.
"Wait... why does Naruto look different?" one of the guards muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"It's Naruto, but he looks completely different," the other replied, still watching him carefully. His appearance was nothing like they remembered.
"Strange..." Even though they were suspicious, there was no reason to stop them.
The barrier surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village had already recognized their chakra signatures. Besides, the monitoring team was responsible for overseeing everyone entering the village, while they themselves served only as the first line of defense in case of any disturbance, before any ANBU arrived to deal with a real threat.
If any unknown or exceptionally powerful chakra crossed the barrier, it would be detected immediately.
Even so, no one could imagine just how unsettled Sakura and Sai were behind their two teammates. The two of them walked with deeply suspicious expressions. They wanted answers, but neither Naruto nor Yamato gave them any.
"Let's pick up the pace," Yamato said.
Naruto simply nodded, and the two immediately leaped onto the rooftops, heading straight for the Hokage's office. Sakura and Sai had no choice but to follow them.
..
Tsunade was reading through several reports while Shizune stood beside her as her assistant, holding Tonton in her arms, when an ANBU suddenly appeared before them.
"Report from the Village Monitoring Team."
Tsunade set the papers aside and raised an eyebrow. "What is it now?" she asked.
"We've received confirmation that Team 7, led by Yamato, has returned."
"Oh, so they're back... But that quickly?" Tsunade commented in surprise.
No one knew exactly what their mission had been. Not even the ANBU knew the details, so he couldn't say whether that amount of time was considered short or not. "But that's not why I came."
Tsunade looked back at him, waiting for him to continue, her expression growing more serious. Something had happened.
"The chakra detected by the barrier belongs to Naruto Uzumaki's signature... but it's very different from what it was a week ago, when he left."
"What do you mean, different?" Tsunade immediately put the papers down. Countless thoughts raced through her mind at once.
Had Naruto lost control of the Kyuubi? Was the Nine-Tails' chakra leaking out? Or had the Akatsuki already reached him? Had something happened during the mission?
But thinking about it, if any of those possibilities were true, the ANBU would already be rushing to report a state of emergency at one of the Village Gates.
"It's not that. His chakra is larger... much larger than when he left. The barrier detected the difference immediately," the ANBU finally said.
"His chakra is larger..." Tsunade murmured.
"What does that mean?" Shizune asked, worried.
"An ANBU team has already been dispatched to monitor them as they make their way through the Village. We still don't know exactly what the situation is. I came only to inform you before another report arrived."
"Alright. You may go." Tsunade said despite her furrowed brow, and the ANBU immediately disappeared.
"And do you think it could be that?" Shizune asked beside her, worried.
She knew Tsunade well enough to tell that the Hokage was uneasy. "I don't know... But no one comes back from a mission with chakra several times greater than when they left."
Tsunade was already beginning to consider alerting the entire Village Monitoring Team.
"Crow! I want you to find Kakashi and Jiraiya immediately. Summon them here at once." Tsunade pointed to the side, and an ANBU appeared instantly. She couldn't use the same ANBU from the monitoring team, whose responsibility was only to deliver reports. If there were any new developments, he would inform her. She needed another ANBU for that task.
"At once, Hokage-sama!" the masked ninja replied before disappearing.
"What is this now..." Tsunade muttered, her voice noticeably tense.
...
Meanwhile, inside the Village, Naruto continued forward alongside Yamato and the others. Suddenly, Naruto glanced to the side.
"We're being watched," he murmured suspiciously.
His new sensory perception clearly picked up several hidden chakra signatures gathering around them.
Yamato had noticed it as well but said nothing. "Let's just head to the Hokage's office. There won't be anything else for us to do besides explain what happened. The difference between the YOU who left the Village and the YOU standing here now probably caught the Monitoring Team's attention. They always keep records through the barrier in case of anomalies like this..." he explained.
Naruto simply nodded. They continued onward until they reached the Hokage's office.
"Jiraiya-sensei is on his way here... Kakashi is already here as well," Naruto said, easily detecting their chakra signatures with his new sensory abilities.
"Team Seven, the Hokage is waiting for you." An ANBU appeared at the entrance to the building. They calmly climbed the stairs and opened the door.
Inside were Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi, all looking at them, trying to understand what was happening after receiving the reports. The first thing that caught everyone's attention was Naruto's obvious change in appearance.
Naruto couldn't hide a smile as he realized he was the center of attention while walking forward. Sakura and Sai remained silent just behind him, waiting for the answers they also wanted to hear, while Sai closed the door.
"Team Seven reporting in." Yamato stepped forward and stood at attention, but none of those present were looking at him. Everyone kept their eyes fixed on Naruto as he approached with a calm smile.
He could have known those people in the other world. There was a younger Tsunade, who had not yet become Hokage, but instead served as the Chief Medical Ninja and worked on other projects within the Village. A Shizune in her early teens, and even a much younger Kakashi.
They might have been versions of the people he knew, but they were not the same. So, after nearly half a year without seeing them, seeing those familiar faces again brought him a feeling of relief and nostalgia.
Naruto couldn't hide a foolish smile at that moment.
"What happened to you, Naruto?" Tsunade was the first to break the silence.
She took a few steps forward, approaching him as if she wanted to examine him up close. Kakashi was also observing him carefully with his single visible eye.
"Hello, Tsunade-obaa-chan. I'm happy to see you again," Naruto said, still wearing that goofy smile.
Tsunade continued staring at him in surprise.
"You talk as if you haven't seen her in a very long time. It's only been a week since you left for the mission. You were expected to return in two weeks, so it seems you finished everything faster than expected... and a few things happened." Kakashi commented, without taking his eye off Naruto until he finally shifted his attention to Yamato.
"And it doesn't seem like Naruto is the only one who changed. I feel like you're a little different too, Yamato."
Yamato simply gave a faint smile. "It's a long story... But we're here to explain everything, right, Naruto?"
Naruto simply nodded.
Tsunade stepped forward, placing one hand on her waist.
"Tell me, how did your hair turn red in the first place?"
"Just a moment. Jiraiya-sensei is arriving right now," Naruto replied, not wanting to repeat the same explanation several times. "It's better if everyone is present."
"How dare you be so disrespectful to Lady Hokage-sama!?" Sakura immediately complained.
Naruto, however, didn't seem to care. He calmly crossed his arms. He could sense the chakra of numerous ANBU hidden throughout the building, along with several other squads positioned outside. He could also perceive a particularly powerful and concealed group, hidden even from the Jonin, which Naruto assumed was Root, the organization his father from the other world had told him about.
''So these are the Village's executioners in the shadows...'' He memorized every one of their chakra signatures.
"Even so, I do have one small question, which is... why so much security, baa-chan? More than fifty ANBU stationed outside? I'm feeling a little confused." Naruto crossed his arms even tighter as he spoke, causing Tsunade and Kakashi's eyes to widen.
"You can sense them?" Tsunade murmured, utterly shocked.
At that moment, she realized yet another change. Had Naruto become a sensory-type ninja? And his hair had also turned red. Had he somehow awakened the abilities typical of that clan?
Before Tsunade could say anything else, someone appeared at the window. It slid open, and Jiraiya climbed inside with a smile on his face.
"Well, well... Looks like this meeting is getting interesting. But I'm surprised... What happened to you, Naruto? Why is your hair red?"
Naruto smiled at Jiraiya. "You're wondering if my hair has become just as red as my mother's, aren't you, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto's calm yet slightly melancholic expression made the three adults swallow hard.
"Naruto..." Kakashi murmured in shock at that revelation...
"I know who my parents are now." Naruto told everyone without hesitation. "I know that I'm the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina of the Uzumaki Clan."
Naruto's words completely stunned Tsunade, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Shizune, Sakura, and Sai were both surprised and confused, as they still didn't understand what that meant.
"You... How did you find that out, Naruto? Tell me exactly what happened to you!" Tsunade could no longer hide her anxiety. With every new revelation, she became even more shocked.
"My hair turned red because the Uzumaki performed a purification of my blood and chakra. I completely inherited the Uzumaki Clan's abilities after undergoing a treatment with the clan." Naruto paused briefly before continuing.
"For all of you, only a week may have passed... But for Captain Yamato and me, nearly six months went by." He finally revealed.
"Five months and twenty days, to be exact," Yamato corrected, making everyone immediately turn their attention toward him.
"What do you mean by nearly six months? And what do you mean the Uzumaki Clan did this to you, Naruto? Explain yourselves!" Tsunade demanded, confused by the answers they were giving.
Kakashi and Jiraiya were also deeply shocked ever since Naruto had revealed who his parents were.
Yamato cleared his throat before beginning his explanation. "When the explosion hit us, after Mukade activated the Chakra Vein beneath the ancient ruins, a light enveloped Naruto, myself, and Mukade. We were pulled into the past along with him." He paused briefly before continuing.
"But it wasn't just the past. We were in another reality, a world that had followed a slightly different path from our own. And the one who found us was none other than the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. To be honest, he didn't seem all that surprised to see us. After approaching Naruto and hearing a little of our story, he introduced himself as Naruto's father."
"..."
The adults exchanged silent glances, seemingly debating among themselves whether they could believe such a thing.
"Please, continue," Tsunade said.
She took a few steps back, leaned against her desk with her hips, and crossed her arms, prepared to hear what, at that moment, sounded like complete nonsense.
"What was different about that world?" Jiraiya asked, still deeply disturbed. After all, his former student had long since died, yet they were claiming that in some other reality, he had appeared before them.
"Well, when we arrived, it seemed that Mukade had traveled several years into that world's past. Minato had just saved the Queen of Rōran from a coup Mukade was trying to carry out while the city was still standing in that era."
"Minato immediately sensed the Nine-Tails' presence inside Naruto and started asking questions. It didn't take him long to conclude that Naruto would be his son in the future."
"That could affect the future," Jiraiya observed in a more critical tone.
"That's the thing. Their world is different from ours. Their future will already be different, whether they met us or not." Yamato took a deep breath before continuing.
"In fact, I even met my younger self in that world. Instead of being in an orphanage or already training with Root, that world's version of me had been taken in by the Senju family and was being trained in Wood Release. After all, Wood Release users hadn't gone extinct in that reality. There were more of them besides me..."
"What do you mean by 'there were more of them besides me'?" Tsunade immediately asked.
Yamato simply smiled. "Let me finish explaining the main differences we found between the two worlds first."
He looked back at everyone. "Minato Namikaze didn't introduce himself as just Kushina's husband. Including Kushina herself, he had four wives."
"Four wives?!"
Everyone in the room practically choked at the same time.
Naruto let out a somewhat embarrassed laugh at their reaction. He didn't even know how to tell them that, in that world, his father was even Itachi Uchiha's father! After marrying Sasuke's mother! And that his counterpart in that world would have Sasuke himself as a younger brother in the future. They had even already decided on the child's name.
Naruto didn't even know what to say about that. He simply waited for Yamato to continue.
"Four wives? But he was only supposed to marry Kushina. How did Kushina agree to something like that?" Tsunade asked, frowning.
Yamato swallowed hard. How could he explain to the Hokage that one of Minato's wives in that world was actually her own daughter from that reality?
"Well... she didn't seem to mind very much. From what I understood, they had all been friends since childhood. Minato formed a deep bond with each of them, saved their lives, and helped them grow stronger. In the end, they all agreed to share a relationship with the man they all claimed to love..." Yamato explained.
Then someone started laughing.
"Hahaha! Four wives? Tell me... was I still his teacher in that world? I bet I was the one who taught my student all those love techniques!" Jiraiya boasted despite the absurdity of it all. Just imagining that Minato had somehow convinced Kushina to share her husband... It sounded unbelievable. That girl had always been fiercely jealous of Minato and would beat up any other woman who got close to him—and she had done exactly that several times, after all, Minato had been extremely popular in the Village.
The very next instant, Tsunade's fist smashed straight into Jiraiya's face.
"Stop acting like a dirty old pervert, you idiot! Let us hear the story!" she shouted.
"Well... it's true that Jiraiya-sama was Minato's teacher in that world. But there were some differences there as well." Yamato took a deep breath before continuing.
"I heard that Minato basically defeated Jiraiya when he was only ten years old."
"..."
The entire room fell silent.
Jiraiya, who was still recovering from the punch, slowly raised his head and pointed at himself. "He defeated me... at ten years old?"
"He managed to take the bells during your test, but only after drawing the attention of the entire village during the fight by using jutsu at their peak... From what I heard, he was still holding back because he could have defeated you," Yamato commented, recounting what he had been told.
"Impossible! Minato was a genius, but defeating me at ten years old is absurd!" Jiraiya immediately shot back.
"You wouldn't say that after seeing what we saw," Naruto replied.
Everyone turned their attention to him as he continued.
"When my father from that world started asking about our reality, we realized there were enormous differences." Naruto paused briefly before continuing.
"In that world, Minato Namikaze fought every Kage when he was thirteen or fourteen years old. He fought Hanzo the Salamander on equal footing at eighteen, killed the Third Kazekage, and a few weeks later, killed the Third Raikage and the Third Mizukage during a war."
The entire room fell into absolute silence. Clearly, the Minato of their world had never accomplished feats of that magnitude.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters! [100%]
👑 HOTD: Jon Arctic! 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡HP - Jon Arctic as Severus Snape! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! Finished! [100%]
⚡Danmachi – The Alchemist! [Coming Soon.]
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆