What Will Be

Chapter 36

The next day, Naruto heard a knock at the door of his office. Immediately recognizing the chakra, he opened the door, gesturing for the red-haired woman to come in.

"Hello, Davina. I'm glad you're here."

The girl smiled grimly, sitting down on the visitor's chair. Naruto quickly took his seat on his side of his desk. "So. How are you doing?"

"Please spare the chitchat. You saved my daughter, I am indebted to you." Naruto blinked. Shouldn't she be more polite then?

"Don't give me that look. Your husband didn't give me a choice in the matter, and I don't appreciate that. But..." She sighed, "Fact of the matter is my Akio is safe thanks to you. In return, you can ask me whatever you want and I will answer to the best of my ability."

Naruto nodded. Finally, things were getting somewhere. "Alright then, that seems fair."

He waved his hand, casting a quick jutsu on the office. Davina raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't the Hokage's office be soundproof already?" Naruto chucked. "Yes, it should. But what I'm about to tell you is top secret, so it can't hurt to be cautious."

Davina hummed, and Naruto continued, "Davina, do you know anything about time travel?"

Now, if Naruto hadn't been a seasoned warrior, trained in analyzing and observing everything given to him, he would have missed the shock in Davina's eyes before they glazed over.

The woman looked into his eyes, and he could tell that she wanted to lie. Much to his surprise, though, she answered, "Yes I do. There's a jutsu that's been safeguarded by my family for a long time."

Naruto nodded. "May I ask how your family got ahold of this jutsu?" Davina sighed. "It was my ancestor who created it. Her... lover had passed, and she'd gone insane trying to get him back." She laughed dryly.

"That's just how we Uzumaki's are. When we love, we love with our whole heart." She smiled sadly at Naruto. "I suppose you would know something about that."

Naruto nodded.

"Well, she got reunited with her love. The entire timeline changed as if he had never died at all. No one believed her story until the leader of our small group tried it. But.. she went corrupt. Wanted to use it for herself."

Davina sighed. "And so we used it to erase any knowledge of its existence so it would never fall in the wrong hands again."

Naruto mentally prodded Kurama. Oi, are you hearing this?

Yea yea, I know. Sounds awfully like what 'I' told Boruto.

Naruto hummed. "So why did you pose as Kurama in front of my son? And how did you do it?"

Davina smiled slyly. "You're quick. Much unlike your genin days."

Naruto scoffed. "Half my life was my genin days."

"I know."

She sighed. "I suppose you'll want the whole story."

Taking a deep breath, Davina tried to prepare herself for her next words. Naruto watched her patiently.

"Akio died." Davina closed her eyes as she recalled the gruesome memory. "She was only three. I abused the power of the jutsu to try and save her. But no matter how many times I went back to that moment, it was useless. I wasn't strong enough to stop her from dying."

"So instead, I made him need me. Because if he needed me, then he couldn't hurt her."

"I used the jutsu to find out everything I could about him, and eventually the trail led to you and Sasuke. He despised you two, and yet was terrified at the same time."

Naruto hummed. "Why was he trying to kill your daughter?"

Davina shook her head as if unable to bear remembering. "She was an Uzumaki. You're the reason she died, you know. He killed her because of his hatred for you. I tried so hard to keep our paths from crossing, but it seems fate always found another way."

"What made you think Boruto would change anything? Why him?"

"Well, first of all, you were miserable. And idiots. I mean come on, who the hell pines over someone for so many years like a pathetic loser? The fact that it was mutual just made it sadder."

Naruto held up a hand, grimacing. "Alright. I get it. Please, continue."

Davina smirked. "Fine. Boruto was the only one who cared about you two enough to set you up. And he was pissed at life, so of course he would jump at the chance to change something."

"Fine, but why did Sasuke and I need to get together?"

The woman looked at him as if he was stupid. "Are you kidding me? You two not getting together was perfect for Orochimaru. Both of you were so caught up in pining after each other, even after getting married, your wives didn't deserve that by the way, that you wouldn't even pay attention to him."

She sighed. "I mean even after you got together you took forever to get your heads out of the clouds." Davina frowned, "Wait no, I take that back. Your heads are still in the clouds."

"Not to mention you two teamed up is deadly."

She grit her teeth. "That was my original plan. I was going to lure him in with information on you two since he would be desperate to keep you guys off of him now that you weren't distracted with each other."

"But Boruto's arrival shifted the chakra energy in the earth. He freaked out and jump-started his grand plan early. And so when he and Akio crossed paths again, he was more than desperate. My information on you guys made me a valuable asset. One that he had to make sure he wouldn't lose."

Naruto nodded. "And so he took Akio. I see."

Davina sighed. "Well, there you have it. My story."

"Why didn't you just change the past again?"

"You can't mess with history someone else changed. Boruto was my last chance. It was foolproof. And... I was running out of chances. The jutsu was taking its toll on my body."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "There were so many holes in your plan. What if Boruto had failed in getting Sasuke and me together? We nearly broke up after he left anyways. Not to mention you couldn't have guaranteed Orochimaru would have caved to your brib-"

"I WAS DESPERATE OK?"

Silence. Then a sniffle.

"I'm sorry. I was desperate. Everything I tried wasn't working, and it was the last time I could change the future because of how badly it damaged my chakra channels. Even now, I can barely use chakra."

She wiped the tears threatening to form in her eyes. "And I was going insane. Every day without Akio made me go deeper and deeper off the edge. I wasn't exactly in the best mindset, as you can see. Happy?"

Naruto sighed. "Let's continue this another day. I see this conversation has taken quite a lot out of you."

"No." Davina stood up. "That's all I have to say. I'm done."

Naruto furrowed his brows worriedly. He stood up as well. "What about Orochimaru's plan? Why has he been killing all the jinchurikis?"

Davina laughed. "You must be crazy if you think he trusted me with any sort of information at all."

With that, she slammed the door shut behind her. Naruto let out an exasperated breath, running his hands through his hair.

Hm, mysteries, mysteries. At least we finally got some answers out of this!