Swirling Chaos Ch. 7 (Naruto)(Time Travel) (Patreon)

A/N: Naruto comes face to face with this timeline's rival~

-x-X-x-

Naruto barely has to think about it. He knows exactly who it’ll end up being if he takes Iruka up on his offer. Grinning slightly, the blond nods his head amicably.

“Go ahead and ask my classmates if one of them wants to spar against me, Sensei. If none of them say yes, then it’ll have to be you, I suppose.”

That gets a deadpan stare from Iruka. They both know full well who will demand the right to fight Naruto in a spar if Iruka does that. Even still, the Instructor only hesitates for a moment before nodding.

“Very well, Naruto. Go ahead and get started on the written test. Your classmates should start arriving soon enough.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

Sitting down, Naruto takes the paper test and the pencil that Iruka gives him and gets to work. The paper test isn’t anything special… however, he does have to give it his full attention. Put simply, he knows he’s going to score full points on some questions, but he’s not as confident about some others. Specifically, the history side of things.

While he does have memories of this world to fall back on, he hadn’t been much of a student of history in this timeline. Meanwhile, his memories of the other world were obviously going to get a little murky, conflicting with some of the things Naruto thought he might know about this world’s timeline.

Answering questions about mathematics and tactics was child’s play. So were the questions regarding plants and animals he might encounter on his mission, and which were poisonous and which were safe for consumption. But when it came to history and the political geography of the world, Naruto was less certain.

In the end, he didn’t think he was in danger of failing the written portion of the exam, to be fair. But at the same time, he’d gone in a little overconfident, imagining that he might even have to get some questions wrong on purpose just to fly under the radar and not appear TOO strangely competent all of the sudden.

That, it turned out, was not the case. He was uncertain about just enough questions that he didn’t even bother purposefully getting anything wrong. He made sure to show off what he DID know, while doing his best with the things he was less sure of.

Eventually though, the paper test was done. And long before Iruka came back with Naruto’s sparring partner as well. Setting it aside for the Academy Instructor to grade when he returned, Naruto begins stretching, all while cycling Nature Chakra through his coils. What he’s doing is called a moving meditation, and it’s FAR more effective than any other meditation technique he was ever taught.

In fact, back in his previous timeline, developing this moving meditation technique had been one of the many times he’d completely astounded Toad Sages of Mount Myoboku. It had been common knowledge that Nature Chakra could only be gathered while staying absolutely still. But Naruto had never been one to allow something as pedantic as ‘common knowledge’ to dictate what he could and could not do.

Besides, he was never one for sitting still anyways. Not in that life… and certainly not in this one. He might have been a little more grounded thanks to Kushina’s survival and presence in this life, but Naruto was still as hyperactive as ever. He just had the Hokage for a mother, and that had made a significant difference in quite a few ways.

Regardless, by the time Iruka returns, Naruto has gone through his usual movements and is positively brimming with potential. He’s ready… for whatever Hanabi Hyuga wants to throw at him.

“Uzumaki! I heard you think you’re ready to graduate and apprentice to the Hokage herself! Well, we’ll see about that!”

As Iruka covers his face with his palm, Naruto can’t help grinning at Hanabi’s exuberance. For the longest time, he’d seen her as nothing more than a nuisance and an irritant in this timeline. She was always getting on his case for not ‘living up’ to his mother’s legacy, as though he wasn’t reaching his full potential just because he slacked off once or twice.

However, with the benefit of the memories from the timeline he’d left behind, Naruto now had brand new context with which to view his and Hanabi’s relationship. Put simply… they had a rivalry between them somewhat similar to what his rivalry with the Last Uchiha had been like in his past timeline. However, Hanabi wasn’t anything like Satsuki Uchiha was back then. As a result, it could actually be said that Hanabi… was Naruto’s closest friend in this timeline.

He would have balked if anyone but himself had pointed that out before the merge, but now that he had a lot more experience and emotional maturity to work with, he could easily acknowledge it. He and Hanabi had constantly pushed each other in this timeline. He’d made her stronger, and she had made him stronger in turn. They’d traded victories, constantly striving to beat each other. Naruto had mostly done it because any time he won, Hanabi stopped pestering him about ‘living up to his full potential’ for a little while… but even still, the relationship was there.

They were friends. Maybe not as close as he’d been to Satsuki or Sakura in the other timeline before… the end, but they were friends all the same. And Naruto wanted to honor that.

A fond smile on his face, arms crossed over his chest, he chuckles as Hanabi points her finger at him accusingly, her Byakugan already active and her veins already popping as she glares at him.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Hanabi.”

THAT brings her up short, her white eyes widening in disbelief at his words. It was clear she was expecting him to respond to her aggression with aggression of his own. It’s what he would have done under normal circumstances. But these weren’t normal circumstances anymore, and Naruto couldn’t really muster much anger or hostility towards Hanabi even with his memories of how irritating she’d been in this timeline.

All he felt towards her now was a fondness and affection… and a little bit of guilt that he would be leaving her behind.

For a moment, his words shock her so much that she even begins to flush, her pale face growing pink before she quickly recovers herself and scowls mightily.

“Y-You! You’re just trying to throw me off! Well it won’t work, Uzumaki! I don’t think you deserve the honor of apprenticing under the Hokage! That’s why… if I win, I want you to swear that you’ll do your best to get the Hokage to take ME on as her apprentice instead!”

That gets an immediate reaction from Iruka of course, who jolts on the sidelines and frowns.

“Hanabi, you-!”

But Naruto cuts the Academy Instructor off, feeling only a little guilty in doing so.

“Sure, Hanabi. Deal. But what do I get if I win?”

Iruka shoots him an incredulous look, but Naruto only has eyes for Hanabi at this point. Even if he’d tried to tell the Instructor in some subtle way that he knew what he was doing, Hanabi would see it with her activated Byakugan. There was no helping it.

Meanwhile, his easy acceptance once more throws the young Hyuga woman for a loop, and it takes Hanabi a second to come up with a response.

“If… if you win, I’ll leave you alone! I’ll n-never bother you again!”

Naruto tilts his head to the side, recognizing in Hanabi’s words that this is a true sacrifice on her part. She might not even fully understand it… but she actually does in fact enjoy nagging Naruto. She enjoys spending time with him. He’s her rival after all, and also her friend even if neither of them will ever accept it.

Without his memories of the second timeline, Naruto would have immediately accepted such a deal, not understanding until later that Hanabi’s absence from his life actually hurt him rather than helped him. But as he is now… Naruto just shakes his head.

“No, I don’t want that. Why would I want to lose my rival like that, Hanabi?”

Hanabi is yet again taken aback, her face growing pink once more. She even sputters a little bit, which Naruto has to admit… is kind of cute. Regardless, her hands open and close a couple of times before she lets out an uncertain growl.

“Then… what do you want if you win?”

Pretending to think about it for a second, Naruto finally ‘gives up’ and waves a hand.

“Mm, I’ll think of something later. You’ll owe me!”

“… Fine! Deal!”

Iruka looks back and forth between the two of them like they’re crazy. To be fair, they are. They’re betting things like Naruto’s future as his mother’s apprentice, and an undetermined favor, on a simple spar of all things. But at the same time, Iruka is somewhat used to their antics at this point, having had to put up with their rivalry for years now. Inured to it, the Academy Instructor doesn’t shut them down like he probably should.

“… Right then. This will be a simple spar to test the Taijutsu of Naruto Uzumaki. I will be the one to call for it to stop, and when I say it’s done, it’s done. Got it?”

Both Naruto and Hanabi nod at that, with Hanabi more determined than Naruto has ever seen her, while he can’t help the somewhat carefree grin on his face. As Hanabi drops into a picture-perfect opening stance of her clan’s Taijutsu, Iruka lets out a sigh.

“Ready? Begin!”

Hanabi doesn’t hesitate, just as Naruto knew she wouldn’t. She darts forward fast, her fingers already outstretched to begin blocking his tenketsu. That was the way of the Gentle Fist, but also… it was the way their fights always went. Hanabi was faster than him, and she used that speed to get in close and get some early damage on his Chakra Pathways.

In response, Naruto had always tended to rely on his monstrous constitution and his ability to literally force his tenketsu back open by flooding them with his immense chakra reserves. It was a battle between speed and stamina, and every sparring match between them had come down to whether Hanabi could do enough damage to disable him before he outlasted her.

Every sparring match… until now. Hanabi’s white eyes are narrowed in intense concentration as she zips in close, but Naruto nevertheless is rewarded with the sight of them widening in abject shock when his own hands come up and grab hold of her wrists before her deadly fingers can make contact with his body. It shouldn’t have been possible, she’s probably thinking. He’s NEVER been faster than her, only more durable than her.

And yet, that’s exactly what happens. It’s only for a split second, but Naruto is able to make use of the Nature Chakra he’s cycled through his body from his moving meditation to out-speed Hanabi Hyuga, grabbing the young woman’s wrists and completely arresting her momentum. Then… he lets her go a mere moment later.

To her credit, Hanabi immediately reacts to her wrists being freed by utilizing her clan’s signature defense, the Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation Technique. In a perfect spin, Hanabi emits chakra from all of her tenketsu at once, forcing him away from her as she creates a protective barrier around herself for a handful of moments.

Naruto technically could have fought through it… it wouldn’t have even been particularly difficult. But he lets himself be forced away, landing on his feet right outside of Hanabi’s range as the chakra shield flickers and dies away, leaving her wide-eyed and panting in shock. She’s not overly tired yet… but she is surprised by what just happened.

So is Iruka, Naruto can tell. The other man… he’s better in this timeline than he was in the other timeline. All of Konoha is better thanks to Kushina’s initiatives. This Iruka was stronger, and he’d been able to see everything that just happened between Naruto and Hanabi. As the two of them stare at each other… Iruka makes a decision.

“That’s enough. I’ve seen plenty.”

Naruto is a little surprised by that, but at the same time he supposes it makes sense. Did Iruka not just see him capture Hanabi’s wrists and then let them go… but also see how Naruto had to LET Hanabi’s so-called perfect defense push him away? For the barest fraction of a second, too short for even Hanabi to see, Naruto had actually started to move WITH the defense, instinctively moving deeper into Hanabi’s guard.

But then he’d thought better of it and let himself be pushed out entirely. Had this Iruka, stronger than any Chunin from the other timeline could ever hope to be, recognized that fact? If so, it made sense that he would end the spar now, rather than let Naruto continue toying with Hanabi for however much longer.

Of course, just because Naruto understands doesn’t mean Hanabi is willing to accept it that easily.

“Wha-?! Sensei, I can keep going! I’m not even remotely spent! Surely not!”

Iruka frowns at Hanabi and shakes his head.

“You forget yourself, Hanabi. This spar is not about you. This spar was to assess Naruto Uzumaki’s proficiency with Taijutsu and that alone. I have seen enough… Naruto passes the physical part of the exam. Naruto, your paper test please?”

Huh, he’d totally forgotten to give it to Iruka before, hadn’t he? Gathering it up from where he’d set it down off to the side, Naruto passes the written test over for the Academy Instructor to grade. Iruka gives him a single respectful nod, but the downturned corners of his lips make it clear that the other man is wondering exactly where Naruto’s skill and speed came from.

Meanwhile, Hanabi looks… lost. Her Byakugan is deactivated and her eyes are staring directly forward, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Naruto won’t deny… he feels kind of bad if he’s being honest. So, as Iruka grades the second half of the test, not too worried about whether he’ll pass it or not, Naruto begins making his way over to Hanabi.

He gets almost right next to her before she registers his presence and immediately jolts from her stupefied position. An actual honest-to-kami sniff leaves her nose, before she quickly regains control of herself and straightens her spine.

“U-Uzumaki… l-like I said, I won’t bother you anymore. W-Whenever you want to cash in your favor… j-just let me know.”

Naruto thins out his lips and shakes his head.

“I already told you; I don’t want you to never talk to me again, Hanabi. I…”

He hesitates. It really is unfair. That he’s leaving Hanabi behind like this. And he finds himself thinking back to what she’d tried to demand of him if she won their latest spar. Hmm…