Naruto: The Unwoven Threads of Fate

"You do realize how ridiculous this all sounds, yes?" Minato flatly says to the three of us.

He's brought us to a new location and we're no longer alone. Two more masked individuals were waiting for us - no doubt on some sort of signal from Minato - and Kakashi is there and awake. It's really hard to ignore him. I mean he's my sensei, the one who started me down the path of a true shinobi. Now he's just a pipsqueak. Nowhere near the man I've come to know him as.

Anyways, once everyone was gathered - glares from Kakashi to Sasuke ignored - we told our story. The one about how we got here, also known as time travel. You can imagine how well that went over.

"Strangely enough, this isn't even the craziest thing to ever happen to me." I half heartedly shrug in indifference. "In the end, it doesn't really matter if you believe us or not."

"All that truly matters is what we plan to do next." Sasuke turns slightly towards me. "We're in the past. Think about all of the ramifications of that."

"Later Sasuke." I stop him from continuing. What's on his mind is probably the same thing bouncing around in my head. We're in the past. Before everything.

"So…" Naruto sheepishly steps forward to Minato and all eyes dart to him. "You're Namikaze-sama?"

"Just Minato." Says the blonde man as he takes off his owl mask. It's kinda useless now that we've all identified him. It leaves me wondering who the rest of them are. Obviously it's an Akimichi from the general body type and the final masked individual is an Aburame. I can tell by how he's shying away from me and is still on edge.

"You're a legend where er… when we come from." Naruto excitedly says. His eyes are spread wide and he's nervously rubbing his hands together. "The youngest person to be given the position of Hokage. The man to win a two hundred on one battle-"

"Just pointing out that I almost did that too." I chime in. "But mine were puppets and he pulled me out of the fight before I could. Jackass."

"-in a matter of moments." Naruto continues with ever growing excitement. Sasuke is blankly staring at Kakashi who's glaring daggers at the Uchiha. "You're hailed as a legendary seal master!"

"Pfft he's not a seal master." I cut in with a snort of amusement.

Every single shinobi here looks at me in disbelief. The Aburame further crosses his arms, the Akimichi lets out a very soft but low growl in displeasure. Kakashi narrows his eyes and releases a single sharp bark of laughter. Naruto looks like a fish out of water, floundering about as his eyes ping pong from me to his hero. Sasuke's face remains blank, however his eyebrows have scrunched together slightly. He knows I'm up to something. Lastly, the man I insulted, Minato looks amused.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I land two kill shots to you in a few minutes?" A faint smile plays on the edge of Minato's lips. "Using… what was it again? Ah yes, the Hiraishin. A technique so famous that even in the future shinobi speak its name with reverence and fear."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm still alive. So much for those kill shots. I still stand by what I said, you're still not a seal master." I insist once more, like Minato there's an amused smile playing on my lips. "More like a one trick pony. The Hiraishin and its sub jutsu are all you have. Nothing more."

"Is that a challenge?" Minato steps forward, his smile now in full bloom. "You talk almost as if you know seals."

"I do know seals." Matching him in both smile and step, I don't back down. This is what I want after all. "Some consider me a master at the art, but I know better. I'm damn good, close to reaching the pinnacle of our art but I can't craft seals mid battle. I need them prepared beforehand. But we're not discussing me, we're discussing you. I propose a battle of the seal users."

"Looking forward to me beating you once more?" Minato coyly says as he pulls out a brush and ink from one of his pockets. "What's the challenge? First to make an explosive tag? Crafting a seal that restricts chakra? One that robs someone of their senses? I do love a conceptual seal, how about one that removes the sense of pain?"

"Nothing so simple." With a smirk, I pull out two identical cylinders. They're grooved to provide better grip and are long enough to comfortably wrap both hands around it. "These are identical in every single way. Made from the same metal, made with the same purpose in mind, made with the same functionality."

With a precise burst of chakra I activate the twin blades. Pale red chakra shoots out of the point of the hilts of the swords.

"These blades are identical in every way. Their purpose is rather simple yet so very complex. Once they stab an enemy they are pulled into the hilt and sealed away. I've already designed the sealing matrix that pulls them into the blade, but there isn't a seal or sealing matrix that keeps them bound inside. It should be able to hold a limitless amount of chakra and likewise should be able to hold a limitless amount of people. My challenge is simple, we will both craft a seal to keep multiple entities sealed. First one done wins."

"Is that all?" Minato holds out a hand for a blade. "I expected a real challenge."

"Words mean nothing to shinobi." I deactivate both blades and hand him one. "We let our action speak for us."

"If I may interject." Sasuke cuts in, the only one bold enough to get between Minato and me. Not physically mind you, but between nonetheless. "Alvarcus, you do know that's Minato Namikaze you're going against?"

"I know who he is." I assure Sasuke. "And what he's capable of."

"You want to do this anyways?" Sasuke asks with an incredulous look on his face. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing." Confidence oozes off my words, practically dripping with how thick it is. "Whenever you're ready, Namikaze."

"This is ridiculous." Sasuke shakes his head as he steps back to give Minato and me some space.

"Three." Minato says as he unfurls a long scroll and flattens it on the ground. I mimic him and flatten my own scroll, one much larger, out as well.

"Two." I say as both of us ready our brushes a hair's breadth away from our inks.

"One." He smirks at me. He has confidence written all over himself. He's not the only one, I'm sporting my own confident smirk.

"Begin." The moment the single words leaves my mouth we both dunk our brushes and furiously - yet elegantly - start writing. Writing is the wrong word, painting would be closer. We're both artists yet different. We both use paint yet are illustrating a different picture. The most interesting thing is that even though our pictures are vastly different, they're still the same.

There's more than one way to craft a seal to get a specific result.

"Done." Minato's cocky voice declares. My eyes dart over to him to see the final tendrils of ink on his scroll worm onto the hilt of the sword I gave him.

"Fuck you, there's no way you're done." I spit out venomously. I've barely gotten started with my idea. It's a real shot in the dark and has maybe a five percent chance of working. "It's been ten minutes."

"Guess I really am a seal master." With the biggest smirk yet, he sparks the blade to life.

A bright yellow blade extends out of the hilt. He effortlessly swings it around a couple times to get used to the weightless blade made of pure chakra.

"Pity, I expected a challenge when you proposed a contest." Minato deactivates the blade and it hisses as it retreats back into the hilt. "But you gave me a challenge that I've already solved. In a fashion."

"I don't understand." I say in real bewilderment. "You've solved it before? And whatever you did changed the color of the blade to yellow of all things?"

"Yes." He holds out the hilt for me to study and confirm his work. "For some strange reason that's what my personal dimension looks like."

"What?" I blurt out in confusion. I hate being confused. Especially since it's about the Sword of Totsuka. I need this blade, this one tool has the potential to sway the course of the Fourth Shinobi War.

"I didn't seal them inside the hilt." As impossible as it seems, his smirk - no his smile - widens. He's enjoying this, not because he's beating me at my own game, but because he's teaching me something. I completely misunderstood him. He's put up with me and my game to teach me. Even to a potential enemy he shows compassion. "I sent them to my personal dimension. It's a near limitless space that only I have access to. There's no need to seal them and risk them breaking, overpowering or dismantling the seal. The only chance of escape is by me releasing them or them having a timespace technique of themselves capable of jumping from different dimensions. Do I need to explain how rare those techniques are?"

"You brilliant fucker!" I let out a loud and long belly laugh. "Three and a half years! I've been trying to solve this problem for three and a half years! I've never once considered to not seal them and send them to another dimension! That's brilliant! No wonder you solved it in ten minutes, you've already figured out how to send yourself to your personal dimension via the Hiraishin!"

"You know how the Hiraishin works?" There's praise in his voice. No doubt because very few if any people actually understand how his prized technique functions.

"I have a few ideas." I wave off his praise temporarily. "Can you teach me to bind my personal dimension to the hilt? Please? I'll even help you with your mission, whatever that is."

"Wait you're offering to help him just like that?" Naruto shouts out in disbelief. "Last time we tried to get you to help us you threatened to kill like thirty people including me, Shikamaru, Ino, Anko, and Kakashi!"

"How'd I get involved with this?" Kid Kakashi mutters to himself. "Do I know them in the future? Oh god, please say I'm not his jonin teacher. Wait he threatened to kill me?"

"Land of Snow?" Sasuke asks me out of the side of his mouth.

"Yep." I confirm. "I was in a bad spot then, I'm different now. Plus Minato just did me a huge favor so I'm indebted to him even if he doesn't show me how to bind my personal dimension to the hilt. Easiest way to pay him back is to help him with his mission."

"You don't even know what his mission is!" Naruto blusters out.

"Haven't the faintest." I easily confirm as I switch my attention from Naruto to Minato. "But the offer stands. Teach me how to bind my personal dimension to the sword and I'll help on the mission."

"Naruto, was it?" Minato turns to the other blonde. "You proudly wear Konoha's symbol. You seem like a good person and you claim to know both these young men. Will he abuse the weapon if I teach him how to make it?"

Naruto's eyes, well everyone's eyes but his matter the most, fall on me. There's a long stretch as Naruto thinks about Minato's question. No doubt he's recalling everything I've done. All times I helped him, all the successful missions I completed while a shinobi of the Leaf, the people I've saved due to happenstance or not, all the good I've done in the world. Yet he's weighing it against all the bad I've done. The fact that I've killed so many people that I've lost count, the time I admitted to torturing people and enjoying it, when I confided in him that I've killed someone I call a friend.

Everyone awaits his verdict. No one else dares to do anything to distract Naruto from his thoughts.

"I trust him." Naruto finally gives his answer and his blessing. "Don't get me wrong, he's a dick but when you need him he'll be there."

"Then I'll teach you." Minato nods to Naruto, it's an action that signals the acceptance of his wisdom. Wow, never thought there would be the words 'Naruto' and 'wisdom' in the same sentence.

"I've never liked you more, Naruto." I mockingly wipe a fake tear out of my left eye and wipe it on my coat. "You called me a dick. You're growing up so fast."

"Haha, very funny." Naruto crosses his arms with a roll of his eyes but I know that he appreciated my words. I wouldn't be me without the sass.

"So Minato." I turn to the taller blonde. "When can I learn? Sooner you teach me, the sooner I can help on the mission, then the sooner it turns into a clusterfuck and then we fix it."

"Now is as good a time as any." Minato shrugs noncommittally. "It should take a couple hours to explain the concepts and the theory behind how it works, a couple more for me to show and explain my version of the seal that acts as a doorway to my personal dimension, and a few after that with me supervising you as you make your own. Once that's all done, we can discuss our mission."

"Does that happen often with you?" The Akimichi asks from behind his mask. "Missions deviating from their parameters?"

"Hn." Sasuke snorts out. "It's a running joke - thought it might be a fact at this point - between Alvarcus and myself. We don't have normal missions. It gets worse if the blonde idiot is with us. If you really want proof, remember we were on a mission and now we're in the past."

"Sasuke cut that 'Hn' shit out right now." My words carry a hint of a threat. "Or do I need to get my Butler back?"

"You haven't signed the Spider Contract yet." A full blown smile of satisfaction blooms on his face. "That means you can't use your summons, which means no Weavers, which means no suits."

"I hate it when you're right." Bastard. He's got me there, I don't have one on hand either. Why would I when the Weavers are so good at making rush orders for me? It would be impractical. "But judging by the Aburame's reaction to me, I'm still a Spider Summoner. So hypothetically I could do it, it just might not end well since they don't know me. Yet. I wonder if my name popped up on the scroll? Wait, all three of us are Summoners. So all of us are in the same boat here. We're Summoners but can't summon. Wow that's confusing."

"Hypothetical Summoning aside, we should get started." Minato gently cuts in and reminds us that we have more important things to do. "This is a loosely time sensitive mission since I could be needed elsewhere. It's best to not lollygag."

"Then why are you taking time to teach this nobody a seal?" Kakashi interjects. As much as I don't want to admit it, he's got a point. If this is a time sensitive thing, Minato shouldn't be teaching me. It's a waste of time in the grand scheme of things.

Well their grand scheme of things, in the real grand scheme this sword could be the single most important thing. Imagine if I manage to shove it through Madara's chest.

"Teaching someone high level fuinjutsu is something I've never done but have always wanted to." Minato enlightens the group. "The young man has talent, it's impressive that he created that sword up to the point he did. I know many seal users that could never figure out where to begin and he has two."

"Technically it's fourteen." Sasuke throws out. "He's a fan of overkill."

"But eleven of them blew up." I awkwardly scratch the back of my head. "I tried different methods to keep them in the hilt. They didn't work. One of them was broken by an opponent, though it was about to explode too. These were my last two before I had to make more."

"Even more impressive. You're capable of replicating a complicated piece of fuinjutsu. Forgive my assumption, but you probably streamlined the process with each successive blade." Minato praises me and he's right. These last two are the best versions of the seal array. "But as I was saying, he shows talent. I want to see just how good he is. The best way to do that is to watch him work or teach him something new to see how fast he picks it up."

"You're putting the entire mission on hold because he interests you?" Kakashi asks in pure disbelief. His jaw would be hanging slack, but since he's had his mask no one knows if he is or not. "You want to see how good he is at fuinjutsu? That's it?"

"Yes." Minato smiles politely at his student before focusing his attention on me. "Shall we begin?"

"Why of course." I withdraw a scroll from one of my inner coat pockets and unseal a frankly stupid amount of sealing supplies. Piles of blank scrolls, liters of ink, multitudes of brushes of various sizes, and it's all stacked on a table. "Don't expect me to call you sensei. That's someone else."

"Really? Who?" Minato asks as he joins me. "You've brought a lot of supplies. Do you always have so much on you?"

"I can't make seals by a chakra imprint. I don't even know if that's how it works to make brushless and paperless seals with a touch. Thankfully it's very rare that I need a seal, I have so many tricks up my sleeve it's stupid, and it's usually for a very specific piece of a plan not something decided in the heat of battle. And Kakashi."

"What?" Kakashi responds to his name. A moment passes in silence as the meaning of my words dawns on him. "I bet you're my least favorite student."

"You'd be surprised." I absentmindedly answer kid Kakashi while paying more attention to Minato. "So fuinjutsu?"

"Fuinjutsu."

Hours Later

"That's… that's so fucking cool." I swing around my own Sword of Totsuka. It's finally finished, I've finally crafted my version of a legendary weapon. I've finally secured a surefire way to deal with multitudes of Edo Tensei zombies. Though I might have just gotten a few extra decades to deal with that problem. Fucking time travel.

The best part about the sword? It looks badass. Not just badass because it's a sword made out of pure chakra capable of banishing whatever it stabs into another dimension but because the sword's appearance reflects the dimension it's bound to.

Turns out mine is black.

Not black as in the midnight sky. Not black as in obsidian. Black as in the total absence of light. It's a goddamn nothing sword. A Void Sword.

I'm naming it that. The Void Sword.

"Interesting." Minato studies the blade as I swing it through the air with a goofy grin plastered to my face. "I thought that someone with such a colorful personality would have a more vibrant personal dimension."

"You'd be surprised." I comment off handedly as I play with my newest toy. "I spent an extended period of time in a void of nothing. I spent so long there I was starting to lose touch with who I was."

Funny how death changes a person. Wow that was morbid.

"How long were you there?" Minato asks softly as he watches me dispatch an invisible foe.

"Dunno really." With a flashy spin I slash the blade through the air, cleaving another invisible foe in half. "It's not something I like to remember. Or talk about."

"My apologies for bringing it up."

"No worries, you didn't know it was a sensitive subject." I fall back while blocking an imaginary hail of kunai. "Speaking of sensitive subjects, have you figured it out yet?"

"Hm?" Minato makes a questioning noise. "Your grip is wrong, you need to flow like water from one move to the next to be a successful kenjutsu user. You're too rigid."

"Thanks." I loosen my grip slightly and try to think like water. I don't think it helped at all. "I meant Naruto."

"What about him?" Minato prods further. "He's a very nice young man if that's what you mean. You should thank him, he's the only reason I taught you."

"I should thank him. It's kinda ironic, after refusing so many people as teachers I needed someone else to vouch for me when I finally found someone I wanted to learn from." With a sharp thrust of the sword I bury it up to the hilt in a foe and imagine him being sucked into the hilt. Into another dimension. "I digress, surely you've seen the similarities by now. I severely doubt someone as renowned as the Yellow Flash overlooked the glaring likeness you two share."

"I noticed." There's a wistful smile on his face as he thinks of Naruto. "But when he first discovered my identity, he called me the Fourth Hokage. Not Dad. Not Father. I'm dead, when you're from, aren't I?"

"Yes. You died protecting Konoha and saved it from total destruction. You gave your life in the process." The giddy gleeful smile that's been stuck on my face dulls as I swiftly decapitate another invisible enemy.

"Kushina too." He sorrowfully tacks on.

"Figured out who his mom was that easily?" The next pair of invisible enemies fall as I bisect them both with one swing.

"He did introduce himself as Naruto Uzumaki. There's only one lady for me, and she's a redhead." A happy yet mournful smile lingers on him. "While I understand that not taking my name makes him safer, I also understand that if his mother was alive he'd know who his father is."

"You don't plan on telling him." This isn't a question. It also isn't an accusation. It's an observation. There's no judgement in my voice, no disapproval or approval. Simply stating a fact.

"You're correct. I don't plan on telling him." Minato confirms my observation as he continues to watch me defeat invisible opponent after opponent.

"Why not?"

"My reasons are my own."

"Out of respect for you not prying into my past, I won't press you for an answer." I dispatch the final invisible opponent. With a hissing snap the blade retreats into the hilt eerily similar to a famous type of sword from another galaxy. Or is it a saber? Semantics.

"How did you know?" Minato asks me as we start our search for the rest of the group. They've gone off on their own once Minato and I started to talk about advanced seal theory.

"I'm in the information business." I smirk at his cocked eyebrow. "I know right? Me, the sassy teenager that seems a bit unhinged has his very own spy network. And it's damn good. Or it was. Will be? I hate this time bullshit."

"You're a very influential individual." Minato says with the same inflection as I did moments ago. It's an observation, a statement. A fact.

"That's a nice way of saying dangerous. So are you." I lock eyes with the only shinobi to be granted SS-rank. "I'd be curious to see who would win if we both fought at our maximum potential."

"That wasn't your best?" Minato sounds impressed. He did see me pull off things that very few people are capable of and some that no one but me is capable of.

"Not even close." I confidently assure him. I only used three of five elements, barely scratched the surface of my jutsu, and didn't even touch my arsenal of various seals. Hell the Jiongu didn't even make an appearance excluding when I was stitched back together. "Neither were you."

"What makes you say that?" He cocks his head to the side in curiosity.

"You didn't use any seals. You didn't use any jutsu, for instance the Rasengan. You didn't touch the Toads at all. You only used the Hiraishin. You are so much more than a one trick pony."

"You knew all of that and still attempted to bait me into a contest of seals?"

"I had to get you to solve my sword problem somehow." I shrug in an indifferent manner. "Did you really expect me to not attempt to get the help of one of the best - perhaps even the best - seal master to exist by any means necessary?"

"You are a great shinobi." He praises me once more. "One of the biggest factors that separates the good from the great is the ability to plan effectively. You seem very adept at it."

"You have no idea." I snort out. "But enough of this idle conversation, let's go find the rest of our merry group. We have a mission to accomplish. What even is it?"

"In a moment, let's wait until everyone is present."