Naruto's Final Hours

Death was something that Uzumaki Naruto saw many times in his life. He was a shinobi who was used to killing for the name of his village, seeing the life leaving their eyes as he watched their last twitches of life as their soul was released. He would always say a short prayer after he ended someone's life, out of respect for the person, but he often wondered what his time would be like.

Naruto was sent into a mission with his new team, it was supposed to last a week if not less and was only C ranked. He had remembered doing many C ranked missions in his time of being a Genin, but this one mission would involve him and his team passing through a small sliver of an enemy nation before they got to their destination. He looked around as he entered the enemy nation, always looking over his shoulder since he was last in the line and never liked being jumped or attacked from behind. His captain, Yamato, had been scouting ahead with a wood clone that managed to find and deactivate all of the traps that he found, finally, they were nearing the boundary between the nation they were in and their destination nation. "Ah, just a few more miles" he said to Sakura who was walking in front of him making both her and Sai nod. "True, but we aren't there yet" Sai said with a tone of warning. Before they knew it, Yamato had given the signal to stop, waving Naruto to the front. "Naruto, make a clone to follow us" Yamato whispered. "OK" Naruto replied before making a clone, sending it to the back of the line after Sakura. They continued to walk before Yamato got a sour look on his face. "My clone has failed, everyone be ready" he said as everyone got into a battle formation.

"Sai, watch out" Sakura yelled as a kuni with an explosive tag went straight towards Sai. He dodged it, sending a beast painting towards where the kuni came from. Sakura suddenly felt a warm feeling going down her back, she reached behind herself and felt a liquid, retracting her fingers to see they were covered in blood. "Yamato, I've been hit" she screamed as Yamato came running, leaving Naruto to fend for himself without knowing that he was the target of the person who was attacking them. Yamato checked Sakura out and removed the senbom needles.

Naruto heard a sound to his left, then felt himself to weak on his right side. He had no chance to scream, he had been tackled and knocked to the ground face first. He turned his head to see who attacked him. The person was wearing what looked like an ANBU mask but it was plain white. He felt what he though was a sweat drop on his neck before the pressure settled in. Naruto had never felt another ninja's weapon against his own skin and now he felt an enemy kuni knife pressed against his spine running down his neck. "Who are you" Naruto growled. The person said nothing. "I asked who the fuck you are" Naruto once again growled. "Naruto, don't move" Yamato shouted out seeing what was going on. "Sounds like a good idea, not moving" the attacker said as he pressed his kuni deeper into the flesh on Naruto's neck. Naruto could now feel his skin splitting and the familiar stinging of blood starting to leak out of a freshly opened wound. Naruto tried to move his neck but the cold knife going closer to his nervous trunk in his spine stopped any and all further movement. He felt the cold steel remove itself once again and then felt the weight remove itself from his body. Naruto starts to get up from his place as he hears a hiss from behind him. "Who said you could move" a voice behind him says as he feels a sharp feeling in his back followed by a complete loss of feeling in his legs. He collapses as he can see Yamato run to him making several wood clones. "What happened" Naruto wonders as he feels a hand touch his back, he turns enough to see it is Sakura. "Naruto, don't move, he severed your spine" she says as she moves her hand around, looking for more injuries. Naruto can feel Sakura's chakra starting to heal his wounds and he can feel the Kyuubi starting to do its part to reconnect his nerves, then feels no chakra from Sakura. He moves his head to see her land in front of him next to Yamato who is now knocked out and Sai who is bleeding profusely. "See, this is what love brings you, it brings nothing but more pain and suffering." he hears as he feels his head being lifted up by his hair and notices Yamato stirring to life. "Yamato, help" he screams, waking his captain completely as he feels the cold of a blade run from his neck to just under his ear followed by everything going black.

Sakura and Yamato watch in horror as Naruto's blood squirts out covering them both. They look over to see Sai covered in his own blood, at least he could be saved. Yamato orders Sakura to check Sai's wounds out as he checks Naruto's. The attacker had left, dropping Naruto onto the ground with a deafening thud. Yamato looks into Naruto's deep blue eyes, they are still twinkling with life. "Naruto, hold on, he missed your veins, you can still make it" he assures the blonde who he is now holding, funneling chakra into his hands to heal the large open wound in his neck. Naruto made no sounds other then an odd moan followed by a slight gurgle. Yamato watched as Naruto's eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head and the light of life slowly burn out in his eyes. It was like watching a light bulb burn out in slow motion, watching the last traces of energy be replaced by a lifeless look that could only be described as that of a person who had seen the world explode. He looked at Naruto's lips, watching the last color of life retreat, leaving them an off blue color and he could now feel the cold of death fill Naruto's body. It was too late to save him. "Sakura, get Sai, we are going to retreat back to Konoha, the mission is over" Yamato said with tears in his eyes as he lowered Naruto's forehead protector to cover the blonde's now lifeless eyes. Sakura started to look for Naruto, not noticing the lifeless body in Yamato's arms. "Where is Naruto" she screamed. "He is with his father now" Yamato replied, tears streaming down his face. "With his father what" is all Sakura could get out before she noticed Naruto's now limp body in his arms with a large gash across his neck. "Oh" is all she could say before her own tears started to fill her eyes. They make their way back to the village, Yamato carrying Naruto's lifeless body that is now starting to get signs of rigermotius. "Sakura, we need to keep him cool" Yamato says as he makes Naruto a wood jutsu coffin. The two started towards the village carrying the coffin, not taking a single break until they reached the gates. "Shit, call the medics and get Tsunade down here now" one guard screamed as he saw them approach, carrying the coffin. "Who is in there, where is Naruto" one guard asked as Sakura pointed to the wooden box to answer both questions at the same time. Tsunade arrived on scene and sent Yamato and Sakura to the hospital for observation, while she took the coffin to the hospital morgue.

Tsunade slowly opened the lid of the coffin and revealed that it was in fact Naruto. "Oh Naruto, judging by your injuries, you must have put up a good fight" Tsunade said to herself as Shizune entered the room. "Lady Hokage, I heard the news" She said as she walked closer to look at Naruto, who's body had already started to turn pure white. "Shizune, inform all shinobi that there will be a military funeral in two days on top of the Hokage tower, and tell the mission room to not issue more missions until after the funeral" Tsunade ordered with tears now flowing down her face as she looked once again at the lifeless body of Naruto on the table in front of her. "I wonder if his father found out, if they are talking, if they are reconsiling what happened the day he was born." she thinks aloud. "I really hope his afterlife is as wonderful as his life here" Tsunade hears from behind her and turns to see Iruka standing with tears streaming down his face. "Iruka, its not a good idea to see him like this" Tsunade says with a somber tone as Iruka starts to walk closer. "I heard that he was dead but I often hear that" Iruka says as he walks closer to the table where Naruto lay. "Now, I see that it is true" Iruka whispers out as he gets close enough to see Naruto.

The two days have passed and all the shinobi are gathered on top of the Hokage tower, Naruto's funeral has begun. "Uzumaki Naruto, the name alone sounds like someone who has lived a loved life, but we all know differently. On this day, we retire one of our villages outstanding shinobi. Naruto, as I am sure many of you know already, was killed in action. He was the person I saw as a grand child and I know many of you remember his pranks, but I know you all know him for who he was." Tsunade said as she looked out to the group of Ninja, all dressed in black, some of them stunned while others, like Hinata, were crying. "He was after all the son of the fourth, and the vessel for the demon fox who tried to destroy the village. When Naruto set out for this mission, he was depressed, but from what I have been told, he never once stopped to protect himself, just those he was with. His actions showed that he was more then a ninja, he was a future Hokage." Tsunade continued. The cloud had started to gather above the tower and rain started to slowly fall. "I guess he is crying watching his own funeral" Sakura says as she feels the first cold drops hit her face. The ninja were split into 3 groups, but not by rank, but only to create isles for people to walk through. In the back of the group were a cluster of ANBU operatives who have had the pleasure of working along side him. "Iruka lost a son today, I lost a grand child today, and we all lost a friend. The bonds that bind us will never break, but they can be weakened, streached but they shall never shatter. Naruto, may Kami great you with open arms and may your father, the Yodamine Hokage, see you we you were before your death. Kami rest your soul and protect you." Tsunade finished as everyone bowed their heads for a silent prayer for their fellow fallen shinobi.