Chapter 11- Ritual

Sasuke looked on as Naruto made his preparations.

Naruto had claimed that he could change the two of their names, but Sasuke was still doubtful. During his extensive "vacation" in the timeless dimension, he had performed all sorts of chakra manipulations and even invented new ones. Sasuke could see no way to perform what Naruto claimed he was able to do with the use of chakra, but his friend had claimed that he will do it with life energy instead, so Sasuke was content to observe patiently.

Naruto sat down and meditated for a few minutes to clear his mind. He would need absolute focus for this; he had never practiced, and he only had enough life energy for one attempt. During Naruto's meeditation prior to their time travel, he had theorized about using life energy like this, but he still had the smallest shadow of doubt.

Naruto opened his eyes and stood up. His eyes were clear and focused. A look of concentration and determination came over his face.

Wordlessly, he clapped his hands together in prayer before bringing them back apart. Naruto created a pair of mudras with his hands. In his left hand, Naruto brought his thumb and index finger together, with the other three outstretched. He brought to left hand down to waist level with his palm facing forward and fingers pointing down.

In his right hand, he half curled his middle through pinky fingers and left his thumb and index finger extended. He raised his right hand to face level, palm also facing outward. His right index finger started to glow with a gentle golden light.

Naruto bent down and started drawing on the ground. As his finger traced the rock of the cliff they were on, a glittering path was left that sparkled with a similar shade of the golden light on his finger, but a tad more subdued.

The first shape Naruto drew were two connected circles. He started from there, and slowly made with way out, drawing complex and intersecting lines around the two. He started to speak as he drew.

"Similar to your time travel jutsu Sasuke, the amount of energy and time this requires is greatly reduced by the aid of a fuin.

You and I will sit in either of these interior circles, and I will activate the jutsu.

When I do, I predict we will feel a burning and itching sensation. We probably won't be able to feel where the sensation is coming from, only that its coming from somewhere very important.

For lack of a better term, we can call that area a soul, which is where the jutsu is affecting.

The name is written into the soul, and I am using this to overwrite it. It will not be a pleasant experience."

The pattern was finished with 30 minutes, and on the top of the cliff, near the edge, a five meter wide fuin was drawn. Inside it were two circles, tangent at one point. From the two interior circles, complex fractals spiralled outwards until they reached the border of the circle.

At the border of the circle, there was a 6 inch wide band surrounding the fractals, and inside the band were the written characters for Yama and Shijin, repeating over and over, in an endless loop around the circle.

Naruto gestured to Sasuke.

"You sit in that circle. and prepare yourself."

Sasuke complied and Naruto sat down in the other interior circle. Naruto continued.

"Kurama, you don't want to get caught in this one."

The fox silently dismounted from Naruto's head and waited outside the edge of the glowing golden circle. It looked on with a hint of mild curiosity.

Naruto closed his eyes again and clasped his hand together in prayer.

The fuin instantly lit up ten times brighter than before.

Naruto and Sasuke sat there; the massive flow of energy had whipped the winds into a frenzy, and their hair blew around.

The cliff started to shake and vibrate, and the smaller pebbles lying around started jumping around.

A deep rumble in the ground was heard, and everything went silent and still. The fuin disappeared, and Naruto and Sasuke sat there, seemingly unchanged.

Yama opened his eyes first. The jutsu had caused significant pain, or at least more than expected. Yama looked at his hands in confusion.

His hands were normal, and they were his own. But who was he?

Yama was Yama. It felt normal, but his conscience mind had told him that just a few seconds ago, his name was Naruto Uzumaki, but now the name was familiar, yet foreign at the same time.

Yama looked over to his friend who was slumped on the ground.

"Sasuke! Are you alright."

Sasuke was coughing up blood and curled in the fetal position. He was gasping for breath and couldn't get a single word out.

Yama cursed under his breath, he was finally well and truly out of life energy and couldn't do anything to help his friend with his awful chakra control.

All Yama could do was sit down next to his friend and pat him on the back as he recovered.

Sasuke recovered within five minutes, and Yama was glad to see it.

"Sasuke, you okay? The jutsu was a little worse than expected."

"A little? That is the most painful experience I have ever endured."

"But it's over now right?"

"Yeah, but by the way...

Yama paused and gave in inquisitive look at Sasuke, who continued speaking.

"... I would prefer if you call me Shijin from now on."

Yama nodded his head.

"It feel weird doesn't it? To know your name and who you are with such certainty but to be full of all these memories contrary to it. Ten minutes ago we were different people, but we still have the memories."

Shijin replied.

"Yeah, but the incongruous part is that even though the memories say that we are different people, they still feel real and true about everything but the name.

Yama grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"At least it wont be confusing anymore. Now we can just talk about Naruto and Sasuke and we'll still know which version we're talking about. You and I can remain as Yama and Shijin."

Kurama silently looked on. Names were important, but who they were had not changed in the slightest.

Kurama mused to himself. A rose by any other Name would smell as sweet.

Yama and Shijin took a short break to recover from their recent experience. Yama was more equipped to handle to damage done to one's soul, but Shijin needed a bit more time to recover before making it to Konoha.

The next day, they started their journey and found themselves at the main gate of Konoha once again. Kurama had gone off somewhere, wishing to avoid Konoha-nin as much as possilbe.

Surprisingly enough, the exact same gate guards they had seen the last time were there once again. Yama chuckled under his breath. The jonin team leader stepped out and called out to Yama and Shijin.

"Halt, Konoha is under lockdown and there are now stringent entrance requirements! You will be subject to a search and quick interrogation."

Shijin stepped forward to take the lead.

"We understand and submit, however, we are former shinobi without passports. Will that cause many problems?"

The jonin eyebrows raised in surprise when the young man in front of him claimed that he, as well as the old man beside him were shinobi. The jonin replied.

"You will be subject to a more intense interrogation, but we will be able to issue you a temporary pass if your business here is legitimate."

The jonin continued.

"Wait for a few minutes, we have specialists on the way to handle your entrance due to your shinobi background, I'm sure you understand."

Yama and Shijin nodded their heads and patiently waited to the side.

Within five minutes, a pair of shinobi came out through the gate and spoke quietly to the jonin team lead on site before apporaching Yama and Shijin.

The two new shinobi stood a comfortable ten feet away form Yama and Shijin.

One of the two was dressed in normal Konoha ninja attire, except he wore a simple mask with a bird's beak painted onto it. The other was a young man, wore a forehead protector, and had green eyes and dull blonde hair; he broke the silence.

"My name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and I will be responsible for your processing into Konoha. To whom do I have the pleasure of introducing myself to?"

Inoichi looked at the ragtag pair before him. One was old, around 55, while the other was young, perhaps only 15. The older one had white hair and blue eyes while the young one had black hair and black eyes. The older of the two replied to him.

"My name is Yama, and this is my comrade Shijin."

Inoichi continued.

"I have heard from my compatriot that you two are former shinobi." Inoichi gestured to the jonin team lead at the main gate before continuing.

"Do either of you have any weapons to declare, None are allowed to be brought in by shinobi without passports."

Yama and Shijin both shook their heads.

Inoichi looked to the man beside him.

"Eagle, confirm?"

The man in the mask, Eagle, made a quick hand seal, and whispered under his breath.

"Byakugan!"

Eagle replied to Inoichi.

"Confirmed they have no weapons, however, neither have any chakra reserves. Recommend extreme caution moving forward."

Inoichi frowned at the second half of Eagle's comment. If Eagle was right, there two were either Kage class shinobi who could hide themselves extremely carefully, or they were cripples. Cripples however, did not survive long in the shinobi world. Shinobi have many enemies after all.

Inoichi spoke to Yama and Shijin.

"We have finished the search portion, however, I need you to come with me to the interrogation unit. We have to be fairly stringent when it comes to foreign, undocumented, shinobi entering our village."

Yama and Shijin agreed, and followed Inoichi and Eagle into the village towards the interrogation unit. Following the four of them were two ANBU teams. Inoichi had secretly deployed a signal to alert security forces of a potential threat.

The ANBU teams followed from a distance, but kept their presence hidden at all times. It was easier to see what the two foreigners were up to when they thought themselves more unsupervised.

Yama and Shijin were soon led to the Torture and Interrogation HQ of Konoha and were immediately separated and led to different rooms.

Yama was seated at a table in a windowless room, with harsh and flat lighting. He was left by himself for about an hour before another person entered the room.

It was Inoichi, followed by two men who were around the same age. Inoichi spoke.

"I will be conducting your interrogation today. These are my two subordinates. They will be helping me to determine the veracity of your statements.

The one to my back right is a member of the Hyuga clan, while to my back left is a member of the Uchiha clan.

In case you don't know, these clans possess 2 of the three great Dojutsu(Eye techniques).

They will be able to read your body and chakra to determine if you are telling the truth or not."

Yama tilted his head.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Inoichi smirked.

" I find that open schemes are just as powerful, but much easier to execute than hidden schemes.

So let's start our discussion. Name?"

"Yama"

"Occupation?"

"Former Shinobi, now wandering."

"Why former?"

"I fought in the last Great Shinobi War with my companion. We lost, were captured, and our village was destroyed."

"How strong were you?"

"I was a genin, though I had taken the Chuunin exams."

"Your strength now?"

"Following my capture, I was crippled, and I now find chakra control almost impossible."

Inoichi thought for a few moments before continuing.

"Please tell me a bit about your past, your involvement in the war, and why you wish to enter Konoha."

"I joined the team of my companion, Shijin, when he became a genin. We performed several missions together, but ended up entering the war in separate teams. Towards the end, we fought together, but we were defeated by the same enemy and capture at the same time.

I wish to enter Konoha to request asylum. My village was destroyed, and I have nowhere else to go. I can however promise you that I have no negative intentions towards Konoha or its people."

"What was the name of your village?"

Yama sighed.

"My clan and I hail from Uzushiogakure."

Inoichi perked up at the name of the Village Hidden among the Whirpools, famed for the Uzumaki clan and their fuinjutsu.

"Are you an Uzumaki?"

"No. I am Yama."

Inoichi continued his line of questioning, asking some questions several times, but finding no new information nor any inconsistencies. He eventually stepped out of the room with his two subordinates.

"Hakuran, did you notice anything?"

The Hyuga spoke up.

"No, his breathing was even the entire time. Furthermore, I saw no chakra in him whatsoever, and it makes me think that he really is crippled."

Inoichi turned to the other man.

"Hubei, how about you?"

The Uchiha agreed with the Hyuga.

"he's an honest crippled as far as I can tell."

Inoichi nodded.

"I didn't notice any incosistencies with his story. All that's left is the mind transfer jutsu. He might react violently when we bring it up, so I need you guys ready for anything?'

"Yessir" "Yessir!"

The three of them went back into the room with Yama, and Inoichi spoke to him.

"You have passed the interrogation so fat, however we have one last test to perform."

Yama waited for Inoichi to continue.

"I will be entering your mind to inspect your memories."

The three prepared themselves, but a very different reaction occurred than they expected.

Yama looked quite sad, and he spoke slowly.

"Inoichi-san, I suffered immense emotional torture following the war. Will you be okay?"

The three froze, normally suspects got angry or belligerent at the thought of having their most private area, their mind, invaded.

Inoichi answer.

"My jutsu insulates me from your expereicnes, it was initially developed as a therapy for tortured POWs when they returned home. I will be fine, and I thank you for your concern."

Yama was still hesitant, he was obviously nervous. The three picked up on the emotions, and their guard went up. Who knew if he was truly concerned for Inoichi or whether he was trying to hide something.

"Are you really sure? I can't properly explain what I went through, but if you have to experience even a tiny fraction, it will be an extremely unpleasant situation."

Inoichi's face was unreadable.

"I appreciate the concern, but please do not resist."

Yama nodded. He hated to do this to the Konoha ninja, but he had too many secrets. Yama sat there closed his eyes and remembered what he dared not to forget.

Inoichi performed several hand seals before placing his hand on top of Yama's head.

"Memory Mirror Jutsu!"

Inoichi felt the life be dragged out of him a dozen times. On repeat, every five seconds, he died. He felt like something vital to his existence being ripped out of him.

At the one minute mark, the jutsu was forcibly cancelled and Inoichi collapsed on the floor.

Hubei and Hakuran immediately lunged forward, and they both held a Kunai to Yama's neck.

Inoichi stopped them though. He was still laying on the floor, but he was able to cough out a few words.

"Stop,.. Hubei... Hakuran... He was right, I couldn't handle it."

The two shinobi back off and helped Inoichi back to his feet. Inoichi was coughing and looked extremely unwell. Yama sat there and gazed at Inoichi with the same sad look on his face.

Inoichi spoke.

" I will be back shortly, please be patient."

His two subordinates helped him out of the room and locked the door behind them.

Inoichi croaked out one last sentence before passing out.

"Please take me to the Hokage."