Changing the River of Time

Meeting Yourself

When Aki asked to be by his younger counterpart, the Third had simply smiled and silently gave him the keys. Neither needed to talk about it- Hiruzen trusted Aki to know what the boy needed and to stick to the laws of the village, and Aki wouldn't take no for an answer. 

He wasn't about to abandon himself, after all.

And so, about an hour after their chat, Aki found himself face-to-face with his younger self. "I didn't know anyone lived there," mentioned younger-self stated skeptically. Not that Aki blamed him or anything- nothing good usually came from a new neighbor, from what the red-head remembered. Or from new people, in general. Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya were pleasant surprises, and definitely not the norm.

He wasn't going to go there at the moment.

The red-head chuckled. "I just moved in. Guess I'm your new neighbor, huh?"

"...Yeah. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, y'know! I'm gonna be Hokage someday," the boy exclaimed with a steel behind eyes a mix of the sky and sea that shouldn't be there for someone so young. Steel Aki saw in survivors- in the people who made it into the war.

"Uzumaki," Aki questioned with honed faked surprise, letting his face morph into a thoughtful mask.

"Got a problem with it?"

He quickly shook his head. "No! It's just... You don't really look it." 

Naruto's face morphed into anger. "Whaddya mean?! I'm the one and only, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"It's not that," Aki quickly stated, shaking his head. "Most of us just have red hair, is all." Aki squinted at the boy, studying the face before him until Naruto started looking uncomfortable. "Though... you do have the right bone structure." 

"Whaddya mean?" Naruto looked even more suspicious- why wouldn't he? Here's a stranger talking about clans and hair and faces? Without even knowing him.

"Us Uzumaki usually had rounder faces," Aki stated, letting his hands move as he spoke. "Round faces, soft features, delicate appearances. We were always underestimated because of it and how childish we appear to be. Personality-wise, I mean," he explained, noting the second the 'us' and 'we' clicked.

"Whaddya mean, 'us'?"

The careful hope behind those eyes betrayed the true feeling behind that uncaring tone of voice.

"I didn't think I had any family left. Not after Mom..." Aki trailed off, letting his face go blank for a moment, and part of the intense grief he felt enter his eyes. They had always been good at reading people- especially from the eyes. After a good amount of silence, Aki shook his head and spoke. "My name is Aki Uzumaki."

Naruto's eyes sparkled. "Uzumaki?" Guarded hope remained in those eyes, a frown twisting Naruto's mouth. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

The elder shook his head, hand going to his hip. "Joking about that kinda stuff's just cruel," he stated, sounding as confident as if he stated the color of his hair. "Besides, why would I lie about it? You don't seem to know 'bout our clan, so if I was pretending, you wouldn't be able to spill clan secrets." He frowned slightly, considering. "Though my hair's a dead giveaway, so the more suspicious person's you."

"HUH?!?! Take a look in the mirror, pal!" 

Aki's mouth twisted into a small smirk, his hands going to his hips. "Oh?" Aki tilted his head, thinking. "Well, let's use the ramen stand for this example. You know how they have their secret way to make ramen?" At Naruto's nod, Aki continued. "Well, it's like if a blond little brat came up claiming to be the owner's relative. Now, why do you think someone would do that?"