Naruto has failed in protecting Konoha from Pain's attack. With everything and everyone destroyed, he travels around the world, alone. His depression continues to worsen until he meets up with an old friend. But will that friend help him or destroy him more?
SasuNaru Friendship! NOT YAOI!
A young man stands among piles and piles of rubble. Bodies of dead shinobi, villagers, and animals alike are thrown about around every corner like ragdolls. Blood is splattered on the cracked walls that are barely standing. What once was a great village has now dissipated into a massive grave yard.
This village was the village of Konoha and the young man is Naruto Uzumaki, the one and only survivor.
His deep blue eyes wander the ground, filled with despair, sadness, and a little dust. He hopes that maybe one of them would be found alive. However, those hopes were crushed within an instant after Pain, an incredibly powerful ninja, destroyed the village with his second attack.
Sakura, Kakashi, Grandma Tsunade… It was his fault. He couldn't protect them. His friends, his makeshift family, gone. Now there was nothing left. He cries for his fallen comrades and the tears stain his face and would for always and eternity.
1 Month Later
On one of the ports near the Land of Lightning, Naruto, still in a great depression, travels the streets alone. He had left Konoha many weeks ago in order to clear his mind and, hopefully, mend his heart. However he has yet to achieve either.
Naruto walked the streets wearing his usual orange pants and black shirt, but he lacked his jacket. Unfortunately he had to sell it for some money, along with many other belongings. He only had on an old, torn cloak to keep him hidden from the outside world. He no longer wore his headband. What was the point when the Leaf Village doesn't exist anymore?
However, he kept it safely in his bag that was slung around his shoulders. He hardly looked at it anymore, it brought back painful memories. Not to mention, he no longer felt like he deserved to wear it after not being able to uphold what it signified: strength and protection.
The street is lined with vendors and its bustling with customers. Each selling some homemade product. A happy young man, around the age of 25, tan with shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes hops in front of Naruto. The man held a glimmering object in front of the hooded Naruto. It was a necklace. It was a small, antique, hamsa and a small ruby in the center. "Do I got a deal for you!" He exclaims.
Naruto eyes the object, but says nothing. "Come on, man!" he urges. "No thank you." Naruto replies hoarsely. It was the first time he spoke to someone in days. "Please!" the man urges again.
Instead of replying, Naruto steps around the man and continues walking. Suddenly, he feels a tug on his hood causing it to fall down. His eyes widen and he spins around. He stops when he sees the man again. "Come on! It's one of a kind!" He holds out the necklace again.
This time Naruto looks at the man in the eyes. The salesman notices the lack of light in his eyes and stares back. How does someone so young have such sad, hurt eyes. "What's up?" He questions.
"Nothing." Naruto replies. He spins back around, covering his spikey blond hair with his hood again. The vendor must have noticed something. He begins walking forward at a faster pace.
"Hold up, man!" The vendor yells. Naruto trudges forward, not wanting to be interrupted by some silly sales pitch again. The man runs in front of him again, blocking Naruto's way around with his arms fully extended to the side.
Once Naruto is at a full stop, the vendor lowers his arms. He tosses the necklace to Naruto, who swiftly catches it and then eyes the vendor with question. "It's on the house," the vendor smiles.
Naruto holds the necklace in his hand, turning it in his palm. Not really knowing why, however being as curious as Naruto was, he asks, "Why?"
The vendor shrugs, "I'm not so sure why you seem so sad, but in this village the hamsa is a symbol to keep the darkness away and, to be honest, you seem to need something to ward off the dark, especially since you don't seem like the kind of person that embraces it often."
Naruto' eyes widen at the explanation as he looks down at the necklace again. He couldn't just take something from this man. This is what he lives off of. "Thanks, but I don't need it." Naruto tries to hand it back.
The vendor raises his hands and steps back. "Nope. Sorry. No give backs. It's yours."
"Are you sure? This looks kind of expensive."
"Positive." The man holds a "thumbs up" to him and winks.
Naruto smiles for the first time in weeks and the vendor finally sees some light in his eyes. Naruto lowers his hood and wraps the necklace around his neck. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Come back soon!" The vendor waves as Naruto continues forward.
Maybe the world isn't all that bad. But still there's no one for me to share it with.
That evening Naruto rests. His head buried in a tree trunk as he looks off the cliff towards the ocean. The sun is about to disappear, but it's still warm. The rays hit Naruto's hair, making shine. They also reflected off his eyes, too, however they were still blank.
His eyes were staring distantly into the past. Not even slightly concerned with the future. His memories hurt. His thoughts were foggy. His dreams, well, there weren't any. Not unless they were nightmares. His goals, faded. He was alone.
However, he felt the warmth of the sun still, the coolness of the wind, the rough bark on his back, and the prickly grass beneath him. So he wasn't as numb as he thought after all. A little bit of hope perked up in those seemingly blank eyes of his. He felt calm at this very moment.
Even so, he could feel himself losing his senses slowly every day. The colors of the sunset weren't so bright anymore and the grass didn't smell good anymore. Even ramen started to taste bitter. Eventually he would become completely numb that even a blizzard couldn't harden his heart anymore.
Naruto looks down and reaches for the necklace around his neck. Protects from darkness. He thought. He chuckles, "Silly superstitions."
Hope you liked it! Please review!
Note that this is my first fanfiction so I'm not really sure what I'm doing.
Also I chose a hamsa due to the fact that I feel like the Land of Lightning is kind of based off the Middle East/African Nations and therefore the hamsa really is an important amulet to them and Naruto lost his necklace during the fight, obviously. Don't bash the hamsa!