Sharing The Sky

Chapter 2: The past is just a story

Naruto woke.

It wasn't slow swim to consciousness, but rather a brutal jerk that snapped her into the waking world. As if sleeping had become a dangerous thing—and it had been dangerous for quite some time now, done only out of pure necessity—and within seconds, Naruto was up and moving, scrambling to her feet, pushing her meager remains of chakra outside of her, reaching as far as she can, feeling, sensing and—

—nothing.

For a second, maybe less, there was nothing. Then information rushed back all jumbled and wrong, a thousand things that made no sense. Surroundings seemed too bright and blurred, a cacophony of sounds deafening, scents too rich and potent for her nose. The only thing that felt normal was the sensation of touch: the weight of kunai in her hand, the rough texture of sealing paper under her fingertips, and faint tickling of chakra against her palm.

Naruto tripped and fell, something restraining her limbs and her balance shot to hell. There was a white-hot feeling somewhat akin to terror climbing up her chest, and she choked, too much oxygen in her lungs, everything so overwhelming, new, raw.

Forcing the panic down, Naruto stilled, heart still pounding, but breathing rate beginning to steady. Eyes wide, she looked around, drinking in the feedback of all her senses and doing her best to reevaluate one thing at a time.

The air was cool against her sweaty forehead and hot cheeks. The moisture on the ground leached through her clothing and chilled her skin. The ground was lumpy, woven with ancient tree roots, with grass and a sprinkle of blooming wildflowers swaying gently in the wind and showered by the shafts of light that burst through the gaps in the leaf canopy above.

No sign of another person, just Naruto and the woods. She knew these trees, could recognize them anywhere. It hit her then, the reason why all of it felt so wrong, so unnatural.

The great forest of the Fire Country was gone: burned to the ground and turned to ashes by the enemy, leaving only scorched devastated land. Just another way to drive the remaining forces of the Ninja Alliance into a corner, taking away any advantage and hiding places.

And now Naruto gazed upon the same colossal trees, ancient and unchanging—intact. Tasted rich, freshly turned earth and a crisp scent of dew. Listened to the harmonious ambient: myriads of birds, a murmur of bugs, wind rustling the boughs, distant below of wild animals. But most telling of all was what she couldn't smell: ashes, blood, death; what she couldn't hear: clashes of weapons, screams , roars of the mindless Bijuu—war.

Naruto didn't know where exactly she teleported. Couldn't even comprehend where she was. Or rather, where her father had sent her to.

The redhead glanced down at the kunai in her hand. The three-pronged kunai with a Hiraishin formula wrapped around its handle. The same kunai she got used to utilizing during the war. Nothing out of the ordinary, despite the sealing paper being a bit worn-out. And yet it looked... different somehow. Bigger. She hefted it up and down a few times. Definitely heavier.

Naruto's eyes widened. She dropped the kunai into her lap and stared at both her hands. She turned them over, stared, then turned again and again.

Small.

Naruto looked down at herself. Her clothes hung from her tiny, boney frame like oversized bags. Clothes that previously perfectly fitted her more mature, taller young adult figure.

It wasn't the kunai that was bigger, instead, she became much smaller. It seemed that she somehow shrunk down to her preteen-early teen's body. At that age, she was really short and skinny, bad habits of irregular eating taking its toll on her growing body. Other kids always made fun of her and teachers never took her seriously either. Kiba called her a runt of the litter once and the name stuck even after she finally hit her growth spurt.