The Ripples of Time

Coming Home

Standing proud above the village hidden in the leaves, was a cliff. A cliff with five faces carved into its side, watching over the people the owners of said faces swore (and often died) to protect. Atop the fourth face from the left was a man with deep garnet hair the shade of fresh blood and eyes a blend of twilight and the ocean at night. 

He didn't wear the vest of his rank, forgoing the uncomfortable thing for his favored garments when off-duty- a navy yukata top patterned with the waves of his home, a matching obi, and the standard ANBU pants. A headband with the village's symbol loosely hung from his neck, but a seal held a different headband. A different loyalty- similar and friendly to each other, but vastly different. 

This man knew pain the likes very few could even comprehend, held memories of a future never to come.

Not on his watch, at least. 

The bingo book warned against fighting him. It gave a detailed description of him and his (few known) abilities (not that anyone realized just how little they knew) and classed him as an A-rank threat (the last time he checked, at least. Which was a couple of years ago, now, so it was probably out of date). 

He was a shinobi of unprecedented unpredictability and strength, rivaled only by legends such as the First Hokage, Madara Uchiha, and the very Sage of Six Paths. However, he could not even use a third of his true strength- partially because he no longer held the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, but over half of that strength was directly tied to his other half.

A man he'd never see again. A man who had given his life for a war the Uzumaki would never let come to life, the yin to his yang because despite popular belief, it was the Uzumaki who held the darkness in his heart, the little light he had exaggerated and blown out of proportion. His other half was the light in their relationship but had simply let the small darkness within consume him for a time. To compensate, the Uzumaki had let the light within him grow even more exaggerated until even the Sage couldn't guess who was which in their relationship. It was one of the reasons their relationship was so out of balance, yet so heated and close. They knew who they were, but their respective situations changed what they were supposed to be. But even without that power, the red-head was a force to be reckoned with.

His name was Aki Uzumaki, and he was lying in wait for a day he hoped would never come. 

.

.

.

While most would train given the chance, Aki didn't. At least not to get any stronger. The only training he did was to retain his abilities, for he knew he hit a plateau. In truth, he had hit it long ago, when he lost both the Tailed Beasts and his other half. He'd never be back in peak performance, but he didn't need to be. Not anymore. 

Everyone he knew in the war was stronger now than they were when it started, and he had always believed in his friends. 

Naruto's friends, his mind corrected. He may not have strong bonds with everyone yet, but it's only a matter of time. And then... and then where will you be?

No more thinking like that, a familiar, booming voice echoed in his mind. Like it or not, kit, these people like you. They're friends with Aki Uzumaki, not Naruto. 

I can't take what he has. We're not the same, and I won't be his replacement.

You're not replacing anyone. You're adding a new bond for the kit, and for everyone else who needs it. Like that hound kid, he seems attached.