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Chapter 2: wash the sorrow from off my skinChapter Text

Naruto falls out of the clear skies above Uzushio, twenty-two years in the past, and groans in lament at his terrible luck as he plunges through thirty feet of air. As if emotionally charged goodbyes, launching himself through space and time, and dealing with chakra exhaustion of this degree for the first time in his life weren't each bad enough on their own. 

Scraping through the bottom of his reserves and expending a little more chakra for a minor wind jutsu to redirect and soften his fall has never felt more like inflicting death upon himself. Probably because he's getting uncomfortably close to doing just that. If he loses any more, he's going to risk his organs giving up on him. Naruto vows to himself that he will never make light of those suffering from chakra exhaustion ever again. 'Sorry, Kakashi-sensei,' he thinks solemnly, hoping his sincerity will reach the man, wherever he might be in his own Icha Icha-themed corner of the afterlife. 

As much as he wants to lay down in the soft sand and never have to move again, he gets the feeling that if he rests now, he's going to bypass sleep entirely and go straight to falling into a coma for a few years. So, instead, he pulls out one of Sakura's specially effective but awful tasting soldier pills and downs it in one go. It takes only a minute for them to start taking effect, boosting his reserves and numbing all the ache that had been plaguing his fatigued body until only seconds ago.

'Food,' he thinks, gagging at the taste he has never quite managed to get used to. 'I'm gonna need food when I wake up.' And he's going to be too tired and in pain once the effects of the pill wear off to find sustenance then, so it has to be done now while he can still force himself to move. 

Sighing at the prospect of having no clones to aid him, Naruto dutifully catches a few fish and goes about the process of spitting and roasting them. He thinks he's probably going to be out for at least two or three days while his body recovers from the strain of war and time travel, and he'd rather not accidentally die of starvation or dehydration in that time. 

As he chews on his food, he recites the to-do list he'd drawn up with Sakura and Sasuke to himself. Normally, Naruto is no good at sticking to schedules or doing things by such design, but he can admit that, with the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance, he should probably have the plan to end all plans. 

He's going to need supplies before he can really do anything else. Right now, all he has are his spare uniform, a storage scroll with a few basic weapons, and Sakura's best first-aid kit. If he's going to be running around the Elemental Nations and fucking with the timeline, he's going to need a lot more than that. To start with, he could probably raid Uzushio for his immediate necessities. Clothes, weapons and there have be rations and nonperishable things lying around somewhere. Now that he has the time, he's not going to miss out on the chance to comb through all the books and scrolls still preserved on the island either. If he could find a whole functional time travel seal, then there's no telling what other useful stuff might possibly be out there.

Money might be an issue. He isn't sure about the currency changes over the years but it's possible that Uzushio either had their own currency or all the money left on the island is just outdated by now. So, he'll need to get a job at some point. One that lets him take all the time off he needs to travel around and meddle in Zetsu's carefully laid out plans while also paying enough to sustain him until he can hopefully join Konoha's shinobi ranks again. A job that also allows him to build the reputation of a shinobi (because their plan kind of hinges on it) without him actually being affiliated with any shinobi village before he's ready for it. 

Ergo, Naruto is going to have to become a mercenary. He wrinkles his nose and sighs at the thought of joining the ranks of every mercenary or bounty hunter who has ever been a pain in his ass. There have been several over the years. Well, whatever. For the sake of the greater good and all that. 

But if he's going to become a famous mercenary (which he will because he knows exactly how good he is), he can't exactly go parading about as Uzumaki Naruto. He's still conflicted about this even after listening to the combined lecture he'd received from Sasuke and Sakura about needing to pose as his father's relative and deflecting the undue attention he'd receive from the people who'd recognise his first name from Jiraiya's book. Naruto isn't exactly a common name, and logically, orphans don't usually know their last names even if he wanted to say he got it from his mom's side or something. Abandoned Uzumaki kids who still get picked off in Land of Waves, Water and Lightning just for their heritage even less so.

Inhaling deeply, he groans, scrubbing his hands over his face. Okay. Fine. He can do this. He won't steal his future self's thunder by keeping his awesome name all to himself. He has had Uzumaki Naruto for nineteen years; he supposes he can let it go if it means doing things right and making sure Kaguya's plans never come to fruition. 

It still leaves a lump in his throat that he can't seem to swallow past. His name is one of the few things he has ever had of his parents. Even when he had nothing else, he'd had his identity and the legacy it brought with it. He has loved being an Uzumaki—being his mother's son. But he supposes that him choosing a different name now isn't going to change that. Even if nobody else will know it, Naruto will always remember where he came from and exactly who he is. That will be enough, right? It will have to be. There's no other choice.

When it really comes down to it, there's a lot he's willing to lose for the sake of this mission. He has always known that peace is built upon endless sacrifice, and he's ready to give whatever it takes. What is the loss of a name to a man who has chosen to change his entire history as he knows it? 

Uzumaki Naruto sighs and lays down to sleep in the first empty house he finds in the city of his dead ancestors, tucking his hurt close to his heart and hardening it into resolve. 

When he wakes up two days later, he is Namikaze Raijin.