Originally a silly drabble, but it has grown into something beyond my comprehension. Enjoy.

(July 15, 2016, the first five chapters have been rewritten. If you want to read the original ones, the link to them is available on my profile).

Reflection

1

Naruto was used to things happening to him.

When he said 'things', he was referring to strange, practically impossible things. Situations that, were he any other shinobi, he wouldn't have known how to resolve. (Not that he would have come to face such weird shit, if he were really any other shinobi. He was not bragging here, he was just being honest. Because. In many cases he was proud of himself and his accomplishments, true, but in many others—he would have preferred not to be involved. At. All.)

He was still debating if this new development fit into any of those categories, or if it deserved a whole new class of its own.

Perhaps it had enough points to qualify into his 'weirdest shit that has happened to me ever' list. This included being the reincarnation of Asura, one of the sons of the Sage of Six Paths, and having fought against and taken down a literal goddess bent on destroying the world. (However crazy, Kaguya had been very powerful and did he mention a freaking goddess?). Incidentally, this goddess was actually the aforementioned Sage's mother—which meant that she had been something like Naruto's grandmother in a really strange, headache-inducing way.

Yes, he decided, as he looked down at the only other person in the room. This definitely seemed to be good quality material to add to that short but… interesting list.

How did he get pulled into this, anyway? He couldn't say that this was one of the possible scenarios covered during his debriefing. Naruto didn't remember Kakashi saying anything about waking up alone and disoriented in the middle of a clearing, and then coming back home to find it housing someone Naruto hadn't seen in his life. In fact, he doesn't remember what the mission was even supposed to be about.

He frowned, trying to bring it back.

Something about Uzushio…?

What he did remember was that he had been advised—or, more like threatened—not to take unnecessary risks due to the severity and complexity of the mission, but he sometimes just couldn't help it. (What? Trouble found him, no the other way around! It had always been like that!). Naruto could recall his ease with the mission parameters, how he grinned confidently and assured the current Hokage that he'd 'get it done in an jiffy, don't worry', but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was supposed to be about.

He couldn't remember what happened afterwards, either.

And now there he was, standing like a statue in the middle of his own tiny apartment, Jounin uniform dirty with sweat, earth and small specks of what he supposed must have been blood, blinking owlishly at a pair of blue eyes that were eerily familiar.

How should he act?

What should he do?

What should he say?

Should he do anything at all? Wasn't there some crappy rule somewhere in the Shinobi Code about not giving anything away when you are not sure if you are in enemy territory or some other bullshit?

He has never claimed to be very bright. Or interested in boring history and rule-y stuff. Shikamaru was the brain behind his operation. Behind his team. And before him, Sakura had had that spot for herself. They were the ones he always counted on whenever he had to deal with that kind of things, because he found it, to borrow his friend's words, troublesome.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do, and it was not his fault. It wasn't. Neither of them was there with him, to tell him what he should or shouldn't say. He didn't know. And the furball was sleeping! What was he supposed to—

"Er, mister...?" A childish voice interrupted his increasingly despairing internal monologue.

"Uh?" Was the only thing he managed to say after a moment. How eloquent.

"Why are ya in my apartment?"

Yep. That settled it. He definitely had somehow gotten himself into an incredibly weird situation worthy of a position within his 'weirdest shit that has happened to me ever' list. It may even deserve the second place in it. After the reincarnation thingy.

He could almost already feel the blow to the head his pink haired friend would happily give him when he returned home, which would surely be delivered together with one of those horrible lectures Naruto hated so much. Even though this—whatever this was—was not his fault, nothing short of body damage would appease her worry (though she'd call it her fury).

It was not everyday he awoke alone and confused in the middle of a clearing, then decided to just get back home—hoping to take a hot shower and eat a delicious cup of ramen—only to arrive and find a sleepy blonde-haired little clone feasting on said noodles. A clone with pigtails. Pigtails, and also very definite female features, even for someone so young.

(But it wasn't his fault!)

"Uh?" He repeated dumbly. Oh, crap! He still hadn't decided what to make of the picture, how was he supposed to know how to answer that?!

The small face scrunched up in confusion and then it projected a small sliver of fear. She dropped the chopsticks into the carton without care and got up from her spot really quickly, backing up slightly, as if to put more space between them. It was not exactly strange behaviour for Naruto, as he himself had acted similarly before he started attending the Academy and learnt to defend himself, but it shocked him nonetheless. However, he barely had time to assimilate what he was seeing before the girl put a defiant mask on and stood bravely in front of him, small shoulders tensed but squared in determination.

"Ya wanna fight? 'Cause I won't let ya beat me!" She shouted, rising her fists defensively. Her voice wavered slightly, but her eyes didn't show anything else apart from courage.

What?!

"Oi, oi! Kid! I don't want to fight!" He cried, trying to placate her. She scowled. Naruto sighed and put his hands up in a show of good will. The girl's scowl diminished, but she didn't lower her arms from their position in front of her chest. He absently noticed that her form was lacking. "I'm just a little confused," he admitted, seeing as the chibi still didn't seem to believe him.

"Why?" She asked, eyeing him warily. She was narrowing her eyes so much squinting suspiciously, Naruto almost couldn't believe she was able to see him at all. The gesture made the teenager smile softly—it was so painfully familiar that he could do nothing but relax.

Something weird definitely happened that messed up his mission, and he promised himself that he would discover what, and how to get back home, but first he had a distressed child to reassure.

"My name's Naruto," he said, and he marvelled at the wide eyed look on the child's face. "I've... just moved in, and it seems I got confused and entered the wrong apartment," he lied. For some reason, he knew that claiming to live there was a bad idea, so he didn't. He usually didn't lie—he loathed doing so—but he needed a good excuse until he could go out and figure out what exactly was going on.

"Oh. Is that so?" She mumbled, body relaxing into a more natural stance as her arms dropped to her sides. "Why didn't ya say so before!" She exclaimed with a big, sunny smile, so much like his own. "Wait! Naruto?!" She yelled, incredulous and a little bit awed, "I am Uzumaki Naruko! Future Hokage, dattebane!"

Uh-huh. That pretty much confirms it, he thought. She's me.

"That's awesome!" Naruto said, valiantly trying to sound enthusiastic. He thought he managed—if barely. As he was feeling faint and a little dizzy, it was no wonder.

"Of course!" She boasted, chest puffing up. "I… Hey, mister?!" She cried in sudden alarm.

Uzumaki Naruto will never ever, under any circumstance, admit that he lost consciousness that day. Not for something as trivial as meeting his younger, female alter-ego. No way.