Naruto Uzumaki.
"Go away. I'm dead you know. Let the dead rest in peace and all that."
Is this how you wanted it to end?
"I want you to go away. Besides, isn't there supposed to be a white light or unending darkness? What's with multicolored lights and a little ball that has mirror tiles pasted all over it?"
There is life, and there is what one wants. How often do the two intersect?
"You're not going to just leave me alone, are you?"
Nope.
"Fine, fine. Yeesh. What is this, some sort of afterlife interview? I just wanted to see them all again."
Something like that. You died, your story finished. A bit of a Gainax ending actually.
"What's a 'gainax'?"
You died in ninja fashion, accomplishing your mission but not exactly a happy ending. You weren't able to save all your friends though, were you?
"I'd cuss you out, but I have a feeling that if this is a test - that'd flunk me."
Okay, this has gone on long enough. What you experienced was called a timeline. You were born, grew up the pariah with a kyuubi sealed in your belly, had a friend and rival who turned to the dark side of the chakra, had a girl with serious self-confidence issues who loved you but could never say it unless she thought she was about to die, went through more pain and suffering and betrayal, and finally managed to be seen as a hero by your peer group up until your death. That was how things went. Yet, it is not necessarily how things must remain.
"What? You gonna rewind time or something so I can undo the past?"
Yes, actually.
"I was kidding."
I was not. It appears in another neighboring timeline, a lesser god named Etragar did something along those lines. I find the idea intriguing.
"Etragar? A lesser god?"
Etragar is a god of another universe entirely. His main areas of expertise and power are: healing, love, kindness, marriage, and spirit. His wife is the goddess of protection, nurturing, defense, and skill-of-arms. They are minor godlings in comparison to myself, with very limited amounts of power that either can wield. Great power by mortal standards, perhaps. I suspect that Etragar has seen me meddle with timelines before and his very human curiosity moved him to try it himself. Interesting that it took him this long. In the ninefold paths, his is considered the path of 'Neutral Good' while mine is more 'Chaotic Neutral.'
"I got less than half of that. You're serious, though? I can get a 'do-over'?"
All you have to do is agree. It might be amusing. Among other things, I am a god of mischief. And you ARE somewhat mischievous yourself. The potential for pranks in creating a time loop are quite intriguing.
"So... you can do it, but you're doing it for laughs?"
Yes. Do you have a problem with that?
"No, actually. It makes more sense than just about anything else. On the other hand, I want to make a few suggestions."
Oh? The basics that I'm offering is that you'll be looped back into your own time axis. So your memories and experience will be in your younger body. The kyuubi will know immediately that something has happened, of course.
"Yeah, yeah, but this is what I want to do."
Toltiir listened briefly, then grinned. He rather liked humans with a sense of humor. They could be sometimes quite clever. Appealing to the possibilities of the extra pranking potential was certainly showing some insight.
Very well then. It is certainly within my capacity, and it may be amusing if you can pull it off.
"If? If?! I'll have you know, oh god of mischief, that I am the SAGE of pranks."
Toltiir decided good enough. The local gods weren't going to interfere since this would screw with Orochimaru, who had a chance of eventually reaching godhood himself if nothing went wrong. That possibility did not sit well with those very gods, of course.
As for the itty bitty change, well by his own standards of course, that was that:
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:57)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.