Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Events Never Were ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Naruto’s owner is Masashi Kishimoto. I in no way intend to make any profit with this fanfiction. This is a dollar creative work of art. Please don’t sue me. If you do, you’ll have everything my pocket has to offer: a bus transfer, a piece of lint, an “I ? East Peoria” pin, and maybe a dollar in change. That’s all I have to offer. Please read and review!

The Events Never Were:
A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter One

You can do magic…
You can have anything, that you desire – magic…

She knew that song from somewhere, though she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Regardless, she followed the music. Normally, the song would’ve just struck her as another hippy tune. Though, with where she was and the mystery of where she was going, it had an eerie quality about it. It didn’t play the entire song on the loop. It was just a few lyrics here and there. This was like following a ghost.

And you know you’re the one who can put out the fire –

The walls seemed endless. Corner after corner and still no sign of where she was or who she was with. Still, she followed the music. The lighting was dim, as if there was a bonfire nearby. Everything seemed so surreal where she was. It was like a dream. A vision, perhaps. Where was she? What purpose was being here and how could she be able to go home? Home was a strange word to use. It’d been a long time since she could find a place to call ‘home’.

You know darn well, when you cast your spell you would get your way…

There was a burning in her chest. The hotter it burned, the closer she was to her goal. Though, when she got there, a bright white light blinded her. She cried out, but she couldn’t hear her own voice.

That was when she woke up. Her eyes shot open. The light shone on her covers. She blinked some. She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out of them. It was that dream again. Again, another verse played inside her head:

…You can do magic…
You can have anything, that you desire – magic…

Nozomi looked over at her bed stand. The alarm clock said it was seven o’clock. She sat up and pulled the blankets off, yawning. Again, she couldn’t get that dream out of her thoughts. It was a recurring dream. It wasn’t one of those dreams that freak you out once and were gone forever. It came every so often. The music in them was almost hypnotizing as well.

She sat there a moment, staring at the alarm clock. If only she could figure out what they meant. In the mean time, she had to cook breakfast for her roommates. She brought her legs out, dangling over the floor. She placed her feet in her bunny house slippers and stood up, stretching.

The woman headed toward the closet to pick out the clothes she was going to wear that day. Then she remembered she’d set them out the night before on a chair next to the bed. Those would do for today.

.o.o.o.

“Mornin’, Nozomi.” Said a familiar face from in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Ai.” She replied. It’d been about a month since they’d used their new names. They were names assigned to them by the Hokage himself. The Crane family – Tsuruno – they were known as.

Nozomi watched as the last of the coffee dripped into the coffee pot. She’d had an alarm on it where it would start making coffee at exactly seven o’clock every morning. Their house was unusual to most considering they’d had a western style table and chairs. Most of the house was western style at Nozomi’s request.

“I gotta run,” Ai stated after drinking the rest of her milk. “If I don’t, I’ll be late for school.”

“Right. See you later.” They hugged and kissed the others’ cheek before parting.

.o.o.o.

The coffee was perfect after I’d added sugar and cream to it. I sat there at the table, watching the clock. After I finish I’ll be heading out to go grocery shopping and then head to my Japanese tutoring class. I’d already known some Japanese, watching anime all the time with my friend, Derek.

He also lived here with us, though he’d taken off early with Naruto. His name here was Mizu. Tsuruno Mizu – Crane of Water. I am known as the Crane of Hope and Zoey, also known as Ai, had taken Crane of Love. I had volunteered to use our English names but the Hokage had insisted we’d taken Japanese ones. Regardless, I thought the names were beautiful.

After I’m finished with tutoring, I’ll come home to clean up a bit and then head out to work. I work at the local bookstore. Occasionally, I’d see Naruto there looking through magazines. With the ones he looked at, it was obvious that he was working on his Sexy no Jutsu. A couple of times – with nudges from the owner – I’d have to tell him to leave. I didn’t do it the way the owner did, though. I was really nice about it. I don’t understand why most people were mean to him. He was an onry kid, but didn’t deserve the treatment he was given most of the time.

I’d finally finished the third cup of coffee before I got up to leave. Since it was nice and sunny out, I didn’t need my jacket outside. I’d set the cup in the sink; let some water run into it, then left after grabbing my purse.

I got on my bicycle and started pedaling off down the street. While wheeling my way toward the market, I passed up some kids walking to school. One of the kids I’d passed was Ai. She was walking with Naruto and Mizu. We all waved at each other right before I sped up.

My bike was a dark blue. I’d put on a headlight on the handlebars so I could ride at nighttime. I hadn’t put on a horn yet. I doubt I’d need that, though. Ever since we’d been here I hadn’t seen a single automobile. I’d wondered if they’d come up with the technology for that yet.

There were baskets on the back of my bike so I won’t have to worry about hauling the groceries home. It was a good neighbourhood so I wouldn’t have to worry about locking my bike up when I got there. I’d usually just set it out in front of the window so I could see it while I was in the store. Though, I didn’t worry much about it. The crime rate was low in this part of town, anyway.

As soon as I got there, I hopped off my bike and leaned it up against the wall. I reached into my pocket and took out the list. There wasn’t much; just a few things here and there.

After brushing off the front of my shirt, I headed into the store.

.o.o.o.

“Kakashi-sensei better not be late this time. From the way things have been going, he’s been late every day!” Naruto whined.

“I wouldn’t let it bother you so much. Maybe he has something important to do before he comes.” Ai interjected.

“Yeah right!” Mizu replied, “What’s he got to do that’s so important? And why would he be late every day? Can you answer that, genius?”

“…No.” Ai sighed quietly.

“Let’s just drop it, okay? If we keep talking about this, you guys are going to be late for class.” Naruto said.

“Right,” Ai stated. “Let’s get going.”

“I’ll talk to you later this afternoon, Naruto.” Mizu waved at Naruto as he left to go meet his teammates.

“I can’t wait to become a genin,” Ai said as they headed toward the school.

“Neither can I. Too bad we won’t be on the same team as Naruto.”

“Yeah, that is a bummer.”

When they made it to their classroom they said together in the back. It was their preferred spot. Mizu picked it because he didn’t like to be volunteered to answer questions. Iruka-sensei usually picked people in the front to do that to. It’d been about three months since they moved there. The two had been able to pick up the language rather fast, in comparison to their roommate Nozomi.

Nozomi needed additional tutoring to understand the language. It was easy for Ai to get a grasp of it because of her age. Derek had already been taking a Japanese class at the college he attended. Nozomi, however, didn’t have the advantage of either. In college she was an English major. The language choices that were most likely for her would be either French or Spanish. Never in a million years did she ever imagine herself learning Japanese.

Even though she watched anime with Derek, she’d never been quite as interested in it as he was. It was he who did all the collecting. From action figures to DVD boxsets to wall scrolls and the like.

“Class, today we’re going to be working on some academia.” Iruka stated after he’d finally quieted the class down. “I want you guys to write an essay on the most memorable event in your life. I’ll be showing examples on how you can do this, if you’re unfamiliar with essays.”

“This should be interesting,” Mizu whispered to Ai.

Iruka gave his example on the front board. “Are there any questions?” He asked as he turned toward his audience.

“I do!” Ai raised her hand up the quickest.

“Yes, Ai?”

“Does it have to be in Japanese? I still don’t know understand all the characters yet.”

“You can write it in English if you want, I’ll make an exception.”

“Yes!” She said to herself a she relaxed in her seat.

“I’ll be expecting to see your rough drafts tomorrow. Class is dismissed.”

Happily, Ai rose from her seat and made her way down the aisle to exit class with her brother.

.o.o.o.

The brown paper bags were filled to the brim. After placing them in the baskets on the back of my bike, I hopped on it and started pedaling. It would be a good couple of hours before Ai and Mizu would be excused from class. That should give me enough private time with the tutor. Private time with the tutor; It wasn’t learning the language that I dreaded. It was who I had to spend time learning it from. It wasn’t that he was mean – it was just that had this superior attitude about teaching. He acted like he was the king of Japanese grammar.

I’m not the only one to suffer this, though. Once I met his other student, Konohamaru. He wasn’t just a grammar-whore – he was a tokubetsu jounin. Supposedly, one of the best ninja there were. He acted the same way around that poor child as he did me.

Watanabe Ebisu was his name. Making my head spin with Japanese grammar was his game.

If I’d known what he was like I would have requested another tutor. But to my dismay there wouldn’t have been anyone else as good as him. He knew English as fluently as any native speaker. The only other person who knew English as well was Iruka-sensei but he was already working full-time for the ninja academy.

I sighed as I passed the bakery.

Why me? I thought to myself.

I suppose the only good deal was that paying for his services was on a sliding scale depending on how much she made at work. That wasn’t so bad.

.o.o.o.

By the time Ai and Mizu made it home, Ebisu was done with tutoring and on his way out the door.

“Hey, there, Ebisu-sensei.” Mizu said politely.

The jounin acknowledged him by nodding and left the house.

“My mom ~” Ai said in a sing-song voice, “She gave me a dime ~ And told me to buy a lime – But I ain’t buy no lime. I. Bought. Some. BUBBLEGUM! Bazooka ‘zooka BUBBLEGUM!”

“Welcome home, you guys.” Nozomi stated while taking out some pots and pans. “So what do you guys want for dinner? Or should I leave the preparation up to you guys?”

“I wish they had Hot Pockets here,” Ai said while plopping her book-bag on one of the kitchen chairs.

“Too bad they don’t,” Mizu replied.

“It’s fine, Claire,” Ai said, using Nozomi’s English name, “I’ll fix dinner. You go ahead and get ready for work. I already know what I’m craving for.”

“Thanks,” Nozomi set a couple of pans on the stove and left the kitchen. She headed upstairs to change her clothes into something more suitable for the bookstore.

After she was changed, she came back downstairs. “So how do I look?” She stood in the kitchen doorway.

“You look fine.” Ai said, looking her over. “Now sit down. I’m making spaghetti. I haven’t had it in ages and I’ve been craving it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Mizu stated, “I’m getting sick of all this oriental food we eat. About time we had something from home.”

“I’m sorry,” Nozomi was usually the one who did the grocery shopping, “But there isn’t much else here. The kind of stuff that we eat is considered foreign to these people.”

It was little while later when Ai finished with cooking. They ate in silence. When they were finished, Nozomi got up to clean herself up before leaving for work.

.o.o.o.