Castle

Prologue:

Something Isn't Right

It was his signature jutsu: the blond ground out a grin, eyes narrowing dangerously in an animalistic look of hatred, and threw his hands up in front of him, fingers forming the seal without falter, shouting out the title of his attack and smiling easier when the smoke surrounded him. It engulfed our team as well, and the kunoichi member of our cell threw him a grateful glance; the smoke gave her time to regather herself, because we were doing rather badly. Our sensei slid his headband up, uncovering the previously hidden eye, tracing our enemies' paths, and withdrew a kunai; I rolled my eyes and slid three shuriken out of the holster strapped to my leg. Losing wasn't what our team did. Winning was our thing, whether it be by a long shot or barely at all. One of us pulled the team through, one of us was always strong enough. There was no reason to get so upset about it.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto's clones surrounded us. I have to admit, I was always amazed and a little impressed with how many clones he managed to conjure, without losing any of that energy. Sakura shot me a glance and I nodded, tightening my grip on the throwing stars in my fist. In front of me, Kakashi shifted his stance a bit, so he could easily defend both me and Sakura within a second's notice. It made me a little mad; could he not trust us to defend ourselves? I noticed Naruto in front of all of us, well out of our teacher's range of protection. He thought he was so great, that idiot dead-last. He was like a cockroach. He just never died.

Our enemies advanced and we scattered, moving quickly; so much for formation. I'd never admit it to anyone, but I loved the feeling; of running so fast you were only a blur to the naked eye. It felt a lot like flying. I frowned, reworking all my nerves into concentration on the fight. I let fly my shuriken, and landed precisely on a tree branch. My missiles hit their mark, and the moving targets fell, bleeding profusely. Allowing myself a small smirk, I glanced around for my comrades. Sakura was holding her own against one of the rogue-nin, swearing grimly under her breath as he managed to get a good hit in, and then drove him back against a tree where she finished him. Kakashi was in the midst of them, Sharingan exposed, working with it so effortlessly it made me a little jealous; his opponents each fell, one by one, and I turned my attention elsewhere, since I obviously wasn't needed there.

Where was Naruto? I scowled, glancing about for him. "Idiot," I hissed, leaping lithely from my branch and hitting the ground soundlessly, my eyes flicking over the immediate area in search of the blond. When I found him, whatever insult I'd planned just kind of died on the spot. Behind me, Kakashi hissed "Naruto" and Sakura gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

The orange-clad ninja was staggering forward from a blow from behind. A lethal-looking katana protruded from his back, and his eyes were wide with surprise, blood seeping through his jacket. There was a thump from behind me, and I turned around; Kakashi's opponents were all dead, now, for the platinum-haired Jounin had suddenly tired of the fight, choosing instead to end it and rush to the aid of the youngest member of Team Seven.

And for some reason, hatred built up inside me. I rushed forward, speed rivaling Kakashi's, and threw myself at the one who'd attacked Naruto, all teeth and claws and rage. I was pulling out every weapon I could get a grasp on, intent on revenge. By the time I'd finished with him, he was a mauled and steaming corpse, blackened to a crisp from my fire technique.

And behind me, Naruto slowly faded into a state most people would call "dying". But no, I didn't believe that. He was our cockroach, he couldn't die. Not so suddenly, not from a katana, a normal human weapon; surely it would take much, much more than that... Kakashi's expression, what could be seen of it, was tortured; Naruto lay on his side, the tip of the blade protruding from his chest, drawing rasping breaths, staring ahead with wide, unseeing eyes. Sakura dropped to her knees beside him, running careful, trembling fingers over the bloody wound, eyes sparkling with moisture she refused to let spill over.

I watched, breathing rather heavily, as Kakashi gripped the hilt of the imposing sword--I hated the sword, however inanimate it may be--and drew it slowly out. Naruto's hands, laying limply over the grass, tightened into fists, clawing the earth and leaving upturned dirt as he clenched his hand tightly; a muted whimper tore itself from his throat, making Kakashi mutter, "It's almost out, Naruto." I continued to watch as the blond bit his lip hard, hard enough to draw blood, refusing to make another sound.

Bubbling red chakra surrounded Naruto suddenly, seemingly from nowhere. Kakashi inhaled sharply, jarring the sword as his hand suddenly stilled and Naruto cried out as the blade twisted in his open wound. I watched Kakashi curse himself and finish withdrawing the blade; and we all stood back a bit, none of us willing to move too far away, and watch the fiery chakra coil around the gasping blond.

"Poisoned," I heard my sensei whisper quietly, voice so emotionless it scared me. I felt my eyes widen of their own accord and I forced my gaze to remain on my fallen comrade. It isn't true, I found myself thinking desperately. It can't be true. He's lying--he's wrong.

But the chakra began to recede, drawing back into the boy, leaving him in just as sorry a state as when it had first appeared. I hesitated for a moment, cursing to the Black Realm my uncertainty, before I made my way to Naruto's side. He was staring blindly ahead, eyes wide, pupils dilated, panic written clearly across his features, fear controlling his usually vibrant, untamed gaze. "Naruto." He stopped trembling for the most part, turning his head until his gaze hit mine; he couldn't see, that much was clear. His eyes wandered over me, unable to pin me down to a precise location. But he had calmed down a bit, and that was my objective. "Naruto, stop moving, alright? Don't be an idiot, just lay still. Sakura's on her way to get help," I said, putting thick implications in my voice when I said her name; she got the point and spun on the spot, leaping into the trees and rushing in the direction of Konoha. "You'll be fine, alright? Don't get so freaked out, dead-last," I continued, forcing calm to control my voice, to make sure I guarded my fear with my mortal soul, unwilling to let Naruto fall victim to my uncertainty. He will not die. I would not let him.

"Sa...Sasuke...teme..." he whispered hoarsely.

"Don't talk, moron!" I hissed angrily; couldn't the idiot tell he was in serious condition? That wound was fatal.

"I couldn't keep my promise," he gasped in one slow breath. "I...couldn't keep my word..."

Kakashi was suddenly at my side, a hand on the ground on either side of Naruto's head so he could lean over the boy; the man whispered, "You will not die, Naruto." There it was: that protectiveness that so sickened me, that I hated to be given so much--there it was, being thrown over Naruto, who would normally never allow it, like a favorite blanket; all those times I stared enviously at Naruto's back, Naruto who was out of range of Kakashi's protection..."You've got to become Hokage, right?"

The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched, but the small ghost of a smile was lost before it could really have been born. He really had given up. I was stunned. That could have been the most surprising thing to ever have happened to me; in situations that seemed completely hopeless, Naruto was always the one that regathered his comrades' courage, the one to make us stand when we'd much rather fall in defeat. He was always ready to fight for us, to throw himself in front of us, but he hated bruising our pride; which is why he always shouted at us to stop being so weak, to fight our own way out.

I never thought I'd see the day when he'd quit. That could really mean only one thing..."Naruto..." I surprised myself by reaching out to touch his hand gently. "Stop. Just...stay quiet, okay? Sakura should be back any minute..." Where the hell is she? "She'll come back with help, you'll be just fine, usuratonkachi." I hated how he couldn't see us, how he blindly had to listen to the words of what to him seemed to be phantoms of comrades he once knew...

Naruto's clouded, unfocused eyes slid closed, the clear, oceanic blue they used to be lost forever; his smile wavering. "Kakashi-sensei..." came his voice, soft.

"Yes."

"Does it hurt?"

"What?"

Naruto's hands formed loose fists. "Does it hurt to die?"

I saw something flash behind my teacher's eyes; his expression was tortured, desperate, angry, hidden behind his mask. But he whispered, "No, Naruto. It won't hurt at all." Please, gods, I thought desperately, don't make him a liar.

And Naruto's face eased into a relaxed smile, brow smoothing out, eyes still under his eyelids. This was the expression we had come to expect of him, this was Naruto. "Okay," he muttered, not to us. "I'm coming..."

Sakura dropped from the trees and came at a run, followed closely by Tsunade and Shizune, and several other Medical-nin. She panted, falling to her knees at Naruto's side, "I brought..." I didn't have to look at her to see the expression on her face, of sudden anguish, grief; I saw it all clearly in my mind. I was numb to her as she started sobbing, numb to Tsunade who was suddenly among us, laying her hands on Naruto's bloodied chest after stripping him off his jacket, pouring all of her healing chakra into him, to Shizune who was at the Hokage's side, aiding her, yelling to the other Med-nin to help. I was aware of being gently pulled aside, out of the way. I remember glancing at my team, Sakura sobbing into Kakashi's vest, Kakashi with an arm around her, staring over her head at something that didn't exist outside his own.

And then the grounded tilted all of a sudden; I was thrown off balance. And then the world turned black.

---

The funeral procession wasn't as grand as the one for the Third had been; but between all of the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and several other ninja, we were able to afford a beautiful one. It was an open-casket funeral; Naruto lay on the cushions limply, face relaxed as though he was simply sleeping. His hands were down at his sides, one upturned so the fingers curved delicately over the palm. His headband was tied around his neck in a fashion similar to Hinata's, and he was dressed in a traditional kimono. He looked small, in that coffin, and I'll never forget how I could count his every bruise and scar, how I could somehow miss the rising and falling of his lungs, his rhythmic breathing, gone...

I was elected to speak for him. I didn't do him credit, this I know. I didn't even have the decency to cry. Our comrades were stunned, shell-shocked, mortified. Nevermind "human tools", nevermind "show no emotion". Shikamaru and Chouji each had an arm around Ino, Kiba held Hinata close, Shino a hand tight on her shoulder, both shielding the broken girl from the outside world; Lee stood at TenTen's side, letting her cry into his shoulder, patting her back, while Neji stood on her other side, whispering things to her no one but his team could hear. And Kakashi kept a hand on Sakura's shoulder, the girl clinging to it desperately...But they all stood together. As I approached the dais, I remember being struck by such a revelation...The way my teammates all grouped around each other, how, I noticed when I looked closer, the teams weren't separately consoling each other. Kiba and Shikamaru clasped hands, Neji and Chouji, Lee and Shino...I would never have ventured to guess my fellow ninja would have been so emotional if Naruto had died...But Naruto had touched a lot of hearts.

And more than our generation was present. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, Old Man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Ebisu, Konohamaru's group, parents of my mourning comrades, so many faces. And Iruka was there, too. I couldn't meet his eyes, for some reason, couldn't look at his face. The one glance I stole proved him to be staring with broken-hearted emotionlessness at the coffin where the Genin that was as close as a son to him lied.

All the broken-hearted people...

I spoke. I don't remember what it was I said, but it had a startling effect on my audience. They stopped crying gradually (oh, so gradually) and began nodding in agreement with my words. Their expressions trembled from anguished grief ready to lapse again into hysterics. Even Tsunade was crying silently; Jiraiya had an arm around her shoulders. Finally, I turned away, began to step down. But then I glanced over; my eyes fell on Naruto's still, pale face and locked.

"YOU BASTARD!" I surprised even myself at screaming so suddenly and rushing at the casket. "YOU SORRY LITTLE BASTARD! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" I was being held back; choked voices were pleading with me to stop, telling me it would be alright.

They're lying.

Naruto's corpse didn't move; a part of me had been expecting him to spring up and issue a brazen challenge. That part of me died slowly, painfully, disappointed.

It would never be alright. Never again.

---

I collapsed onto my bed. My house hadn't changed. My room hadn't changed. My bed hadn't changed. But everything was different. Nothing seemed real. My clothes, my weaponry, even myself; they all seemed alien to me. When I slept, my sleep was dreamless, fitful.

Yet when I opened my eyes, I was sure I wasn't awake.

The walls around me were stone; the window above my bed was larger, curtained with heavy sheets and tassels; my bed was monstrous in size, adorned with thick down blankets and a dozen or so firm pillows, a canopy bed, with dramatic sweeps of amber obstructing my view of the rest of the room.

Numb and with an aching feeling of dread turning into a solid lump in my throat (that began sinking dangerously toward my stomach) I slid out of bed and my bare feet met a bearskin rug. Odd. I glanced down at myself; I was clad in a white nightshirt, although I had been sure I had not undressed from my traditional funeral garb, nor did I own such a garment.

There was a knock on the heavy wooden door; I blinked, panicking but unwilling to show it. And then a smiling brunet entered, with a scar across the bridge of his nose. At this I stared. "Iruka?" my surprised exclamation left my mouth of its own accord, I swear. I would never have believed the Chuunin would have gotten over Naruto's...end...so quickly.

"That's right," he chirped, only peering into my room and not stepping in. "Get dressed, Prince, you're late today." And then he pulled the door shut again and was gone. The light in the room flickered; torches on either side of the door.

I stood silently for about three minutes before finally coming to the firm and credible decision that I had gone completely insane.

Act 1:

End