The Future: Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 164-NARUTO'S REMATCH

West Aturia

Himawari wonders what's going on. She could have sworn that Hannah just threw her father into the pit, were her eyes playing tricks on her? No, that is impossible, the pit itself is gone, replaced by a sand dune matching the remainder of this desolate landscape. Not only that, but thousands of crazed people seem to have emerged, they could only have been the people who were trapped in the pit. Did her father manage to get all of them free? How is that possible? Only ten seconds has passed yet he has emerged with an air of incredible confidence, not only that but his muscle tone has changed and he looks a little bit taller. Just what happened to him in that pit?

The prisoners of the pit attacked Naruto each of the 4000 times he tried to escape, each time he prolonged their agony. However, now that he has destroyed the pit they don't know how to behave. Planning and language were both lost to them countless years ago. They each look left and right, holding their arms up and basking in the sunlight, like children in adults bodies, wondering into the world for the first time. It's a feeling Hannah understands better than anyone.

Ziyi laughs at it all. She never truly believed she would see the sun again, she thought that her life would end in some grizzly way, that one of the Rose Kingdom's warriors would have killed her. Now she has emerged into this world and while it may be plagued by a civil war and dictatorship, it is far better than what she endured in the pit. The old lady has only one man to thank for saving her life, a debt that she fully intends to repay when the chance arises.

Naruto turns from Hannah and looks at them all.

"Ziyi, you are free. Here there isn't much you can do to help me, not with such strong opposition," Naruto says. "Your first allegiance is to the Rose Kingdom, and to your follow soldiers. I hope that you can find someone who can help them, a doctor of the mind."

"I will try."

"I hope that when the time comes you will join the rebellion. I hope that you will march against Furst Jonas with me, my family, the War Council, and any others who will come to our side."

"I will, without a doubt, I will lay down my life for your cause."

Kushina looks at her son. Clearly something changed. He is naturally about to engage Hannah once more, but his demeanour is so different than it has been previously. Naruto has always had a naïve childish confidence about him when he goes into battle, certain in the back of his mind that he will find a way to overcome the odds. That is not what he is displaying at the moment. His expressed confidence is so much greater than that, bordering on the arrogance of an adult born and bred for the purpose of winning this fight.

"Why are you so confident?" Kushina asks. "You only fell into the pit a few seconds ago. Nothing could have changed, surely there is still no way you can defeat Hannah."

"Ten seconds ago," Naruto corrects his mother. "However, for me it seems like I've spent a lifetime down in that horrible pit. Don't worry mother, it may be hard to believe but things really have changed. I can protect Mito now."

Ziyi smiles and runs over to the Uzumaki family. She bows politely to each of them in turn with a huge grin on her face. She has heard so many stories of these people, at this point they might as well be her only family.

"You must be Uzumaki Kushina, I recognise you from Naruto's description," Ziyi says politely, "It's an honour to meet you. Your life's story was truly captivating."