Reborn!

34: A Future Worth Protecting

A trio of pink, yellow and black was crowded around a campfire, gnawing on roasted meat and sipping on a broth brewed from the bones and some dried vegetables.

It was not the most luxurious of meals, the taste of the food severely limited by the quality of the seasoning that he could reasonably bring out, but it was better than anything found in the Forest of Death. It hardly showcased Naruto's talent in cooking, yet it was still delicious enough for his teammates to quickly fill their bowls with seconds. Well, there was that, and the researchers were not singing empty praises for the result of their research -- the bear meat was superb.

"You won't distract me with good grub, 'Ruto. Spill the beans," Sasuke spoke unconvincingly, stuffing his mouth with meat.

"Why don't you finish swallowing before you say that?" scoffed Sakura, an eyebrow raised.

"I refuse to take that from you," Sasuke retorted, ripping a chunk of bread to dip in the clear broth. "How about we see you follow your own advice first?"

His "thoughtful" words of guidance earned him a painful kick to the shin.

Naruto sighed, activating the privacy seals, "Children, calm down. I'll talk."

His two squabbling companions shut up promptly, glaring daggers at each other accusingly.

Amusingly, neither of them seemed to consider the argument to be their fault.

Although he claimed that he would speak, Naruto remained silent for a long moment.

Eventually, after weighing his words carefully, he murmured, grave, "I saw something. They were... flashes. The briefest lapses in my concentration -- the minutest of scenes."

Sakura's breath hitched -- inadvertently, she remembered the coloured threads.

What were they? Were they some form of intangible substance beyond this plane? Did Naruto see them too?

She queried, waveringly, "Colours?"

Naruto's lips quirked into a wry smile. "There was, and there wasn't."

The cryptic nature of those words caused Sakura to subconsciously clench her fist.

With a cough, Naruto finally spoke straightforwardly, "They were memories full of history I no longer recall. Some images were painted in vivid hues -- rich emotions that I can no longer place. Others were bleak and empty. I feel... a connection to the things I saw."

"You have a past that we don't know of, then?" Sasuke inferred, surprised. "I did not think you were amnesiac."

Naruto furrowed his brow, pensive.

"It is not that. I've always thought that our return to the past was almost predestined. I used to wonder if... I've gone back many times before. Perhaps it was reincarnation or something else, but there are many experiences that I seem to have left behind. You three weren't friends of mine in those lives. I'm not the person you know me as." He worried his lip for a while before amending, "At least, that isn't all I am."

Unexpectedly, his teammates were not significantly affected by this revelation.

Sakura flicked his forehead, exasperated by his sudden bout of depressive contemplation. "We've always known you have many secrets, 'Ruto. You having a previous incarnation you don't really remember isn't going to change how we think of you."

Dazed, Naruto brought a hand to his reddening forehead.

"Ah, the stuff that old Rikudō Sennin said makes sense now! Do you remember being the Shodaime?" Sasuke asked in anticipation.