Black Light (Naruto)

Chapter 58

A headache bloomed in his head, pounding against his skull. Hikaru hissed softly, bringing his hand up to his head. The time that he'd been loosing had been slowly getting longer and longer and longer, as opposed to an hour the first time it happened. 

He sat down, unable to remember what he'd been doing. He'd been looking out the window, yeah, but why? Why had he been staring out the window?

Hikaru opened a sealing scroll, deciding to try and think about what he was missing while making seals. His hands shook slightly as he dipped his brush into the ink, his brain quickly diverting onto a new path of thinking. 

Birdsong outside of the window. 

Oh shit--

That's what Hikaru was supposed to do today. 

He quickly sealed his sealing supplies, shooting up from the couch. He checked if he had his mission gear on, sighing in relief when he did. He hunted quickly for his sword-- it had been strangely left in the dining room, which was more than weird. 

Hikaru grabbed his ANBU mask, staring quietly at it. It would be his first ANBU mission in a long, long, long time as it had been six or seven years since his last ANBU mission. 

He took a quick, nervous breath before sliding it over his head. It fit almost exactly like he remembered it did, the porcelain smooth against his face. He quietly activated the seals on it that hid his scent, chakra, and any natural body noises. 

Hikaru sealed his sword quickly, tying his long hair into a ponytail. Strands of crimson framed his masked face, then one last nervous breath as he shunshined towards the Hokage's office. 

He faced Tsunade and bowed deeply. "Ready for my mission, Hokage-sama." He muttered, seeing her honey brown eyes fill with slight relief. 

"You were almost late, Kitsune." Tsunade said, before handing him a scroll. "I trust you already know what your mission is about?"

Hikaru nodded, accepting the scroll. 

It felt so odd to be standing here in ANBU gear. It felt even weirder when he was also simultaneously being reminded of the time he'd been Hokage-- which he didn't even like to think about. No, he definitely should move on. 

"I'll be back in two weeks, Hokage-sama. Ja ne." Hikaru bowed once more before shunshining outside the gates. 

This mission wouldn't be that difficult. It was an S-rank mission, sure, but the Fire Daimyo had requested someone of high skill to guard him. And, well, Hikaru had the highest skill and the most skill experience considering he's been through a lot more than a... 27? 28? year old should have been. 

He took a deep breath, and then off he went.

___

Unknown POV

He stared at his scarred hands, a brilliant white hallway surrounding him. It was all a pure white, blinding him as he gazed around at the doors. The hallway here split into two directions, one went to the right, and the other went forward. 

He gave a soft sigh, his ANBU-styled pants brushing against the ground, bandages unraveling from his arms. They were slightly bloody, but he didn't pay any attention to them. 

One step echoed around the hallways, and at one point it had drove him close to insanity. After all, he'd spent a lot more time than he should've in this hallway. 

He held out one hand, letting his chakra decide which route he should take. Something inside of him whispered to head to the right, and he pivoted. 

Just the very brush of his clothes against one another was increasingly loud in the silent hallway, the silence pressing upon his ears and filling his head. He could feel his urge to fill the silence with random chattering, and he remembered when his best friend had willingly done that. 

The same best friend he'd been chasing down for at least a hundred years. 

He walked down the hallway, feeling his breath shorten. His hands brushed against cold, metal doorknobs as he attempted to find what door would open for him next. 

Soft, quiet breaths. 

His steps echoed down the hallway and something inside of him screamed to walk faster. He didn't want whatever was hunting him to catch up with him, after all. He didn't want the obsidian-black abyss to press upon his heels, making his breath short. 

He shuddered at the memory. Back then, he'd still been slightly emotionless, fresh from dying and not knowing what to do. 

But he'd had the will to live ever since his first timeline, at least. That had been the one that he'd actually been able to blend in a little better. 

He'd seen hundreds and hundreds of the same white doors since then. Ones where the world was merely a stain of red and rubble. Ones where the moon hung hugely over the sky, and others where there were children running about. He'd been with the First Hokages and the Tenth Hokage, and everybody inbetween. 

His hand twitched, and he paused on a doorknob. 

He opened it, seeing a smear of green and a dark blue, speaking of an evening sky. He stepped in, a rush of black evading his mind. 

___

He opened his eyes, a blur of grey in front of him. He sat up, grey walls surrounding him, and he glanced down at his sheets. 

Okay. He was in his old room. Now... how old did he look?

He glanced down at his hands, then ran towards the mirror. He had a baby face still-- cheeks slightly rounded, eyes still child-like and innocent. 

"Your time moves faster than most." The Sage of Six Paths told him, hand guesturing to his current body. "But when you're yourself, your time will move normally. And when you find who you're looking for, remember something very important, child."

He looked at himself once more, and at his small hands. He was about ten years old, which meant he still had time. 

It wasn't his last time appearing before he defected, after all. 

"You will have a single day with him." A loud voice had echoed, and for the first time in way, way too long, he felt a sliver of defeat.

A day was too short, but he knew that his best friend was not in this timeline. But he needed to wait until he died in order to go into that idiotic white hallway again.

"Your time has started, child. Good luck."

___

Thank you for reading this chapter!! I haven't written in this book in a hot second, as I'm planning another one-- it's called "Honey & Geodes", and it's about a street kid from Kiri meeting Minato's Team Seven. It's mostly just fluffy little moments, compared to Black Light. It'll be out late 2021/early 2022!

Original: 01/23/2021

Edited: 03/29/2021

This chapter contains 1729 words!

-Beginning_Asuka