I opened up my eyes slowly to not be blinded by another room but, contrary to my expectations, the room was dim, like the inside of a slightly opened box.

A few rays of light managed to peak through the cracks in the wooden walls but nothing too major.  The shadows veiled us from most of the sunlight starting to break through.

 

 It looked like I managed to wake up quite early. I could still see the sun making its way up from the horizon. After taking a second to get my mind in order and to get used to the tight feeling around my neck. I had to take care of my first issue, the cool temperature that came as a result of last night's rain.

 

 Not really the happiest to be in a pair of boxers now but, it wouldn’t be my first thought to worry about after what happened either.

 

  Looking at my new environment, the worn-out wooden walls and thatch floors with a few bits of furniture, this place had probably been standing for 10 or so years. 

 

I saw that Riku had fallen asleep on the chair beside me, the bags under his eyes already told me all I needed to know, and it didn’t help that he was a heavy sleeper to boot. Seeing the anguish on his face from my psyche was hitting a little too close to home for me lately. I just needed to clear my thoughts and it'd all be fine.

 

So slowly, I got out and moved him into the bed. Impressed with my ability to pick up the thirteen-year-old, I tucked him in. Just looking at him reminded me of Ruzo, that idiot was probably out there swinging his spear; like there’s no tomorrow. He must’ve been mad at me; not like I wasn’t.

 

Swiped up my storage scroll from his side, a pulled out a fresh set of clothes. Even if Riku wouldn’t allow me to diversify my outfits too much since we were on the run, not like my hair wasn’t attention-grabbing enough.

 

I put on a blue hoodie over a mesh shirt and white pants to go with my black open-toed sandals. A more, Sasuke-inspired look for today.           

 

I left a written scroll behind before walking out of the room to find a white snake looking at me as I closed the door. I put my finger up to my mouth.

 

“He’s sleeping… I-I’m trying not to bother him…” My voice came through hoarse, but the snake nodded at me and started going down the hall and looking back at me.

 

I assumed that it wanted me to follow as it nodded in response before slithering away a bit and looking back at me. So, I did, the white snake led me to a water pump for a drink and I bowed to it before doing so. It was probably dawn as I watched the moon set while the sun began its rise across the horizon.

 

Taking slow sips from the bamboo cups left in a closed container at the side of the pump and admiring the view, Ta no Kuni truly lives up to its name.

 

Going from the stormy night to the sight of the waterlogged soil and terraces going across the mountainous environment at sunrise brought my mind at peace. It was a nice change to the city, even the industrial atmosphere of Amegakure.

 

I don’t think I’ve had a moment in this life to just relax like this by myself, being connected with Orochimaru was already messy business. The only plus side to not having Riku around as much was that I was able to get my hands on scrolls he wasn't interested in anymore or grew out of using.

 

 This way, I managed to learn some formation seals like the Enclosing and Unsealing Technique. I even made a few batches of explosion tags, and four storage scrolls just so we’d have additional cash if need be. 

 

The rest of the formulas I knew from the show were a little too advanced for me at the moment, until I could take time to try to understand its foundation and build up a weaker version. For now, I’ll stick to relying on my luck.

 

“Thank you so much, that’s a lot better.” I took the chance to check on the scroll I had in my outfit, the words for my experimental creation rebirth were gone but I’m glad I memorized that since I only had enough time and chakra to make one set for me and Riku. 

 

I circulated chakra through my body just to make sure everything was okay and low and behold, a mark; not just any but one of those fucking experimental cursed marks was on my body.

 

I thought that Juinjitsu stuff was at least consensual. Well, Anko and Sasuke would probably tell me otherwise.

 

 The mark itself was heavily unstable, I might as well say that he gave me a new sword’s blade, sharpened and beautiful in its presentation, and told me to hold it tight as the blade is dragged across the palm of my hand. Watching the blood splatter across the ground.

 

I couldn’t show my reaction on my face to alert Orochimaru’s summon but, I decided to touch the area on my shoulder and sigh before mumbling about figuring out what this is before I placed the snake around my neck and started heading towards the village. 

 

Only to, along my way, find a boy around my age with light blonde hair playing the ocarina by one of the fields. The song he was playing wasn’t something I recognized. At first, it seemed peaceful with its slow pacing but the more I listened, there was a tinge of sadness becoming more prominent behind his notes. 

 

 His hair softly blew in the wind, making it seem like he was in a whole world of his own and I was just there to witness it.

 

 Then something within me resonated. I started checking on my connection with Jules to make sure everything was alright. I barely had it pieced back together. After reincarnating, it hasn’t been as strong so to have her response gave me some sense of comfort. 

 

The scene around me felt like there was something present, not watching but waiting. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I knew that this was familiar. I was out here with three abilities but none of them were the ones I needed most. 

 

So, I did what anyone else would do with a mysterious force in front of them, I reached out.

 

Taking in my surroundings, the ground below me was soft, puddles weren’t an uncommon sight on my walk here. Bright and early, I could see that we were approaching the outskirts.

 

The temperature was on a slow rise when it suddenly started getting a little chilly again. By the second it became more frigid. 

 

I had to channel chakra up my body to stay warm, it wasn’t going to be pleasant if I didn’t. This was the one thing Riku taught me. I had to make the most out of it. I couldn’t channel chakra into the ground yet, trying that made for some interesting results.

 

I suppose it’s been quite some time since I last held an instrument. At that time and now though, when I needed it, it wasn’t as pleasant or honest with me as it was with this boy… I just stood there; life didn’t end on the best note, so I had to make the most of this opportunity. 

 

Whatever I got became more volatile in my grasp. At least, that was the case before I saw it. 

 

Running through bustling streets was a small boy, battered and bruised he kept running with this stupid smile on his face. His head was a mess of black hair, a chipped tooth, and worn-out clothes. His arms were tightly wrapped around a paper bag even though the tips of his fingers were red, I didn’t know what was in it, but I knew he wasn’t letting go for the world.

 

  His figure got closer as he kept running towards me. I could tell he was saying something, but it wasn’t long before he tripped into the snow. I could tell that it was back home, if it was before or after my time was something that got me curious. The buildings were blurry, quite literally looking like splotches of various colors.

 

Before I could even take a step forward, I was back. 

 

Well, I wasn’t exactly sure if I even left.

 

The faint presence was gone. It was like it was never there, I would’ve thought I was seeing things again if it wasn’t for the frost I exhaled. Looks like I got it alright. Tasted like cinnamon, as for what it was? Your guess was as good as mine at the time. At the time, I put the thought aside while I kept watching the kid playing.

 

'I used to love playing music, for my younger cousins, for Ruzo and the others. When did it all stop being enjoyable?' 

 

Earth had mutated in a way we never expected. Monsters began to wreak havoc all over, leaving many cities in ruins. 

 

 There was only one thing that kept us going and that was our psyches. A force to combat the very same monster we’ve grown to fear, the vessels in ones’ self-consciousness played a vital role in our survival.

 

In this moment of solitude, Jules stood right beside me. Transparent but, still counts. She’s been with me for all this while. We both just stared into each other’s eyes. 

 

One second… two seconds, what took to the count of five felt like a conversation that took hours. It was wordless, but I understood. Tears began to stream down my cheeks just thinking of what was. Although I couldn’t remember everything, some things just stuck out.

 

We both just indulged at that moment, it wasn’t like a kunai to the throat, but this song did a decent amount of damage to both of us.

 

“Hey, Jules?” (Hibiki)

 

S: (Yeah?) (Julia)

 

“You think we’ll play like that again?” (Hibiki)

 

S: (... We play a thousand times better than this kid- a-) She tried to do her awkward chuckle again but the glare on my face through my tears was enough to shut her up for once.

 

“That’s not what I asked, Jules.”  (Hibiki)

 

S: (... L- let’s give it some time, you still need to sort out the mess we’re in. But to answer your question, I’m willing to try if you are.) She intertwined her hand in mine, which felt weird. It was too nice of a moment to ruin by talking about her jelly mitts.

 

“Then, I guess we’re giving this some time.” I give a small smile as we stood hand in hand.

 

When he ended after a few more minutes of playing, Jules’s form dispersed. I gingerly walked to him after composing myself. In a world where anything could pretty much be used as a weapon to kill, you could never be too cautious.

 

“Hello. I’m Hibiki. It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?” I reached out my hand to him

 

He looked over at me before speaking, “...Um, were you crying?” (????)

 

“Oh, sorry. That was embarrassing, it’s just been a while since I listened to beautiful music like that.” I wiped the tears from my face (Hibiki)

 

“Y-You thought it was b-beautiful?!” (????)

 

I went ahead to take a seat next to him as he ignored my hand.

 

“Oh! Shoot, sorry. I don’t get compliments often. Uh... oh, my name is Menma.” His face was getting redder by the minute as he stuck out his hand.

 

I went ahead and shook his hand with a smile on my face. As much as I hated being a kid again, one of the perks was just how soft our hands were.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Menma. I was curious, when were the other people going to get up?” (Hibiki)

 

“Well, the sun is still rising so it shouldn’t be too long.” Menma looked up with his gray eyes and blonde hair.

 

 'Come to think of it, Naruto has a lot of characters with a wide arrangement of colored hair and eyes. I guess most normal-haired characters will be background characters or mobs as Ruzo put it when he talked to me about it.'

 

It was then that we heard a door slam and a thud which I assumed was a full body crashing into the ground. The cherry on top was the small “Oww...” before the panic started up again. It didn’t take long for there to be a constant sound of splashing to get louder

 

I sigh as I got up and faced the direction of the panting breath all familiar to me.

 

 “Yup, that’s my brother.”  (Hibiki)

 

***

 

-????’s POV from yesterday-

 

After unsealing the door, I rushed into the hideout.

 

"Damn it, DAMN it, DAMN IT!"

 

I threw the stacks of papers off my desk in a huff, I was SO CLOSE!

 

For those idiots to not even bring the bodies was inexcusable. My golden geese were slaughtered! I needed it, I wanted it, I had to find the bodies more than ever, but I needed to make sure everything.

 

“Yamanaka!”

 

 Hiruzen has been more on guard but that wasn’t going to matter as long as things went to plan. In a matter of seconds, I got my response as he shushined inside.

 

“Yes sir!” Fū Yamanaka kneeled before me

 

“Recover the bodies, we need to find out how it was done.”

 

“Understood.” Fu disappeared and I took a seat, all that manipulation I did for Hanzō may have gone to waste, but I’ll at least get something out of this.

 

'Now, it’ll only be a matter of time before this village becomes mine…'