Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warning: BoyxBoy. Character death.
Close Your Eyes
He is getting worse. They now have a whole unit of doctors and medical nins, headed by Tsunade and Sakura, monitoring his condition. Anbu guards are stationed at his door every second of the day.
His friends want to visit, Iruka has begged and begged tearfully, but the Godaime is adamant. He is in no condition to receive visitors.
So you rely on Sakura as your sole informant. Most days she just sits there with puffy eyes and smiles, telling all of you that he will be okay… He's Naruto, after all. He'll make it out of this all right. You want to believe her, but something tells you that things are much worse than she's letting on. Most of his friends are more trusting than you, and they smile in relief every time Sakura tells you of his progress. Some, however, are as weary as you are. You've seen it their eyes - fear, worry, rising panic. But it seems like an unspoken agreement – you pretend along with the rest that he will be fine.
Sometimes, when you're not on missions, you find yourself in front of the hospital, staring up at the window of his room on the highest floor. The drapes are always drawn tight, but after a few hours standing there, you start to imagine him looking out, waving to you, wearing that silly grin that has the power to make your heart skip a beat.
He turns eighteen tomorrow. It has been three months since he was hospitalized. It feels weird without him reminding everyone cheekily to buy him his present like he does every year. Ironically, the fact that he is not there to remind you about it makes you even more acutely aware that you haven't gotten him anything yet. When you go downtown to the shops to get something for him, you find Sakura there, looking forlornly at something in the display window. It is a set of porcelain figurines of the quintessential Genin team. A faceless adult in Jounin uniform stands behind three faceless children – two boys flanking a girl.
You ask her if she's getting them for Naruto. She smiles and shakes her head. She doesn't think that Naruto wants anything for his birthday this year. You snort your disbelief and toss her the box wrapped in blue paper with a golden ribbon. For the moron, you say, and she laughs the first real laugh from her you've heard since two months ago. She touches your arm and looks like she wants to say something, but doesn't. And then she leaves, saying that she needs to get back to the hospital.
It is a week later, when two Anbu come knocking at your door at three in the morning. He wants to see you. The only thing going through your mind as you pull on your clothes are Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. When you get to the hospital twenty minutes later, Sai is not smiling, comforting a crying Sakura. Kakashi is there, for once not reading his perverted book. Iruka sits on the floor against the wall, staring into nothingness. The rest of his friends are on their way.
No one seems to want to tell you what you have been summoned for, so you enter his room. There are presents and soft toys and boxes of chocolate on the floor, slashed almost beyond recognition. Among them you can make out your present, the blue scarf you had gotten him because you thought it matched his eyes, torn in shreds.
The Godaime is standing in the corner, her tearful brown eyes trained on the occupant of the bed on the other side of the room, strapped onto it with chains. You can only stare at him. This isn't Naruto. It can't be. His eyes are not the sky blue you're used to seeing, but an angry fiery red. He is hissing and growling, clawed hands straining against the confines of the shackles.
No... This isn't Naruto. This is the Kyuubi.
The Hokage turns to you, almost numbly. Naruto wants to talk to you, she tells you, suddenly looking closer to her age than what she appears to be. She leaves the room and you are alone with him. You are startled out of your thoughts when he whispers your name suddenly. His eyes are blue once again, the claws and elongated canines gone. He beckons you with a weak wave of his hand. You are beside him in a moment.
He doesn't have long, he explains. The seal is almost completely broken, and there is nothing anyone can do now. They had had to bind him with the chakra limiting chains when he attacked a doctor earlier. The demon is going to take over his body again soon, and this time it will be permanent. You try to argue, but he smiles, and you fall silent.
Remember the Valley of End? he asks, and you choke out a yes at the memory. He gasps for breath for a while. The pain is excruciating. His eyes flicker red once more, but he fights it down.
Chidori. He wants you to do what you did back then. The chains will stop the demon's chakra from healing him this time. You protest violently. You won't be the one to kill him. Ask Kakashi. Ask Sakura. Ask anyone other than you.
He smiles again, and shakes his golden head. He isn't asking you to kill him; he wants you to save him.
There is nothing else for you to do other than to form the hand seals that will summon the chakra to form the Chidori. You watch in a strange detachment as the energy gathers in your palms and the piercing sound fills the room. The windows are rattling with the force of the technique.
Close your eyes, Naruto, you tell him softly. Close your eyes, and I'll close mine.
He does as he's told. You aim at his chest, and whisper that you have always loved him. You do not know if he heard you, but there is a beautiful smile on his face just before your eyelids slide shut. The moment your hand connects with his heart, you hear him.
Me too, Sasuke. Me too.
End.
Author's Notes:
(1) I seem to enjoy killing Naruto in my fics, don't I? I'm such a drama/angst queen.
(2) The line: "Close your eyes, and I'll close mine" is borrowed from Christopher Pike - which of his books, I'm sorry to say that I've forgotten the title. The book was about a girl who went for an abortion and her unborn daughter came back in time for revenge...? At least that's what I remember from reading it almost 9 years ago.
Hope you enjoyed reading this!