(AN: Based on the recent manga, so beware for some spoilers! First random fic btw.)
He could never get up if it weren't for them, they could not do the same if it weren't for him.
The world exploded in pain as finally he, after two centuries of methodical planning even in death, finished the project he sought to go through with, the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
I couldn't do anything, as I felt my own eyes widen and my mouth opening to scream at the blistering hot lashes of pain racing through my veins, but nothing came out.
The world turned red as I stared into the moon, once a shining pure beacon of light, now a bloody crimson color with a Sharingan pattern, boring into all those that stared at it.
I felt the many shinobi all around me fall onto their knees as the legendary genjutsu took hold, until they ultimately lay, face-first in the ground, unconscious and mindless.
My ears, regardless of the rush of blood from reacting to a foreign chakra taking hold of my mind, could hear footsteps approaching me. My blurring vision shifted towards the man in red plated armor as everything that had happened rushed vividly into my thoughts.
A revived Madara.
A stolen Senjutsu.
Hunted bijuus.
Complete despair.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Madara spoke in a slight mocking tone as the last of my consciousness was starting to fade, "You were an adversary worthy of being on the level of Hashirama, but," he clamped his hand over my eyes, "Give up, and let your dreams become true in the Tsukuyomi."
With that tone of finality, I felt his chakra, swarming me as the world went black.
It was white, blinding white.
Where am I?
My eyes adjusted as I was in a white area, being hit by blinding light.
Who am I?
I looked at my palm as golden dust seemed to come off of it.
Is this... my hand?
Have I found what what I wanted?
The hand closed as a person came into view he seemed familiar…
Is that, what I've become?
Is that the person that wanted something?
Why did I want… whatever I wanted?
What makes him what I want to be?
The figure is slowly was getting farther away.
Those eyes, that hair, those whisker marks, that grin, what makes that, me?
Or is that me, or am I myself?
The figure is now nothing but a speck.
Who… am I?
The world went black.
*SLAM*
"OW!" I cried out, a growing throbbing pain slowly seizing my head as I rubbed the sore spot. Then I realized, I wasn't in my body, I was in the body of a twelve year old.
"Oi, gaki! This isn't the time for a hero to fall asleep isn't it?"
Wait.
My body seized up at the voice, not because of it startling me, but of who it belonged to.
I turned around.
"E-Ero-sennin?" I stuttered as the white-maned pervert gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into my head once again, making me rub the sore spot once again.
"I am not a pervert, I am a super pervert!" he "proudly" boasted, as he began his usual traid that I had so longingly missed, "I am the Gallant Sage, Jiraya of Mount Myōboku! I can silence a crying baby! Make women weak in their knees!"
"You are a shameless pervert that peeks in on the hot springs, you can silence a crying baby by making it look at you and laughing at your stupidity, and you make women weak in their knees by your idiotic ways," I had reflexively blurted out, earning me another smack on the head.
"Damn gaki," he muttered as I soothed an already large bump on the head, "Now, how about you? Who are you?"
I opened my mouth to speak, before seizing up. Who am I?
"Idiot," Jiraya blurted out at my dead look before shaking his and looked at me dead in the eye, "So this is the infamous prankster of Konoha, the Yondaime's legacy?"
(AN: Play Seigo no Chakra from Fairy Tail, it's what inspired me to write this.)
Madara was walking away as my body had a small tremor.
My eyes widened, memories rushing back as I fell back, but it was only a small handful.
"Baka, is this my rival? Pitiful," a voice drawled. Sasuke.
"Shut it teme," I replied as I got up, but a small smile grew on my face, "I don't see you out there doing anything either."
Sasuke did a small but noticeable double take at the insult, before a small smile appeared.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun, has a point," a pink haired woman chided. Sakura-chan.
"Well whatever, I'm still better than him!" I exclaimed as I made a fake-pout before all three of us smiled. More memories rushed through my head, far more vivid than before.
Team 7.
A tremor went through my body as I began to shuffle on the ground, earning the attention of Madara.
"So I came from hell just to see the gaki who convinced me forget his own damn name," a voice exclaimed. Zabuza.
"Don't be too harsh, he has gotten strong," another voice reprimand the other. Haku.
The black world began to slowly turn brighter.
"I think my student can handle this, he is sensei's son after all!" a voice spoke cheerfully as Sakura began to reprimand him for being late. Kakashi-sensei.
"I agree Kakashi, he is my son, right Kushina-hime?" T-tou-san.
"Our son, Minato-kun and of course he can handle it, dattebane!," a voice growled as a nervous chuckle erupted forcefully. Kaa-san.
"Yeah, I'm proud of boy I once called my student, now a man every can depend on," a voice spoke as a smile could somehow be conveyed with the pride following behind it. Iruka-sensei.
The memories are clearer.
I wanted to be loved, and I was loved.
Family.
I struggled push myself up with my hand before falling down once again.
"Give'em hell, ya hear!" Kiba-teme.
"You can do it!" Fa- Choji.
"You believed in me, I believe in you." Hinata-chan.
"You always remembered me, even if you didn't act like it." Umm, Shino?
"Troublesome, get up baka." Lazyass Shikamaru.
"Hey, you better get up or I'm going to slap you!" Ino-chan.
"SHOW THEM THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Lee-san.
"Get up, our blades haven't been rusted yet." Tenten.
"...show them the power to change destiny." ...Neji-san.
No, I wasn't lonely, I had friends.
The world around me became clearer.
I slammed my fist down and slowly raised myself up, gritting my teeth as Madara stared at me with unhindered amazement.
"Show them the Will of Fire, the one who I can call my grandson." Sandaime Ojii-san.
"You better bring it to them, yeah!" Bee.
"Go nii-san! Beat'em!" Konohamaru.
"This was the gaki who won the bet against me? Makes me look like a winner." Baa-chan.
"Stand up, you can win, I believe in you as much as you believed in Sasuke." Itachi.
"Make our story that our master passed down have the best ending." Nagato.
"Maybe, if we had taken your path, your nindo, we would be standing right beside you… win for us, please!" The jinchiruki, and their bijuu. My friends.
"Keh, is this the gaki I made friends with? I feel so ashamed for myself," a painfully familiar voice growled.
"Shut it, Kurama, you got beaten by me anyways!" I yelled, only to receive a eyeroll from the giant kitsune.
People who believed in me, who have changed because of me and who I was.
I stumbled to the left, then to the right before settling with both my feet planted as I stood, arms hanging and head down.
More and more people around me appeared as they shouted their thoughts and sayings.
"You got this!"
"You can do it, please don't let us down!"
"Stand up!"
"You're the best, go!"
"Go foxy-kun!"
Some were idiotic, some were embarrassing, all the cries were uplifting as the world was suddenly clear, a field with blue skies and grassy plains. Everyone was standing, staring at me as they cheered for me, somehow egging me on to remember something.
"You have any idea who you are, dobe?" Sasuke spoke in his usual manner as he approached me and put out his hand for me to grasp.
That's right, I remember now.
I grabbed it.
"M-my name, is… Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki! Son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Habanero! I hold the Will of Fire and aspire to become the next Hokage!" I yelled out as everyone began to shuffle and get up, awaking from the genjutsu grasp as I did. The Rookie Nine got up first, all holding looks of steely determination. The Kages slowly rose and the shinobi all stood up, now unfazed, and stronger than ever. When all were finally awake, I raised my head, opened my eyes and stared at Madara's.
"But most of all, I never give up, dattebayo!"
Sometimes it takes one person for all to stand back up, sometimes it takes all for one.
In Uzumaki Naruto's case, it takes both.
Hey guys! JudaiTheGamer here! I appreciate if you have taken the time to read this short fic. I happen to have spurs of ideas that come randomly and this was one of them. Now if you're confused, I suppose I should fix that, eh?
If you haven't read the recent chapter of Naruto, I highly recommend you to if you are unsure of what the heck is going on. To explain what is happening to Naruto, it's much like how Gaara had Shukaku unsealed by Akatsuki (Chapter 261). Naruto then enters into a "in-between" state of life and death if you will, and from there on out I hope you can figure it out.
Anyways, enough talking from me, I hope you enjoyed! Please, if you have have the time, put review so hopefully my writing can become better and more enjoyable for all of you.
