"Nee…Kakashi-sensei."
"What is it Naruto?
"If I died….would you cry?"
…
…
"That's alright, it's a stupid question anyway..."
A young Naruto turned and walked away from his long time sensei, disappearing down the street. Kakashi watched him walk away, worry showing ever so slightly in his visible eye. He could no longer bring himself to keep reading his Icha Icha novel, even though this one was his favorite, and instead tried to ignore the horrible feeling in his gut. Perhaps he should spend some time with the child.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!'
"What do you want now Naruto!?"
"…..If I died…..would you cry?"
"Of course not! At least you wouldn't be here to annoy me!"
"Oh….okay."
Naruto walked away from Sakura, his child-hood crush, not seeing the confused the look she sent him. When he was gone from view, Sakura could not bring herself to continue to spy on the Uchiha prodigy. Instead she stood there, a horrible feeling washing over her.
"Oi, teme!"
"hn, what do you want dobe"
"If I died….would you cry?"
"tch…what kind of question is that?"
"Ah, nevermind."
Naruto disappeared as quickly as he appeared, leaving behind a very confused boy. Sasuke could not bring himself to continue training, instead he stared at the spot where his rival/bestfriend was just standing. An ominous feeling settled in his stomach, nothing good could come of this he was sure.
"Iruka?"
"Ugh! Naruto, can we talk later? I have so much things to correct."
"If I died…would you cry?"
"Not right now Naruto!"
Nodding his head, Naruto managed a small smile at the man who was like a father to him. Murmuring his goodbye to the man, Naruto walked out of the classroom. Iruka sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. He opened the top drawer on his deck, he pulled out a small picture of himself and a younger Naruto. They both had big smiles on their faces, Iruka's arm was wrapped around Naruto's shoulders. It was a good memory, they had gone out and had a picnic in the forest. Looking at the door Naruto disappeared through, Iruka organized his test papers before getting up to go find his surrogate son.
"Naruto?"
….
"If I died…would you cry?"
…..
Allowing a sad smile to grace his features, Naruto continued to look over the village from his perch on the Hokage mountain. After a few minutes of silence, he got up and stood at the edge of the mountain.
Four people arrived at the broken down apartment building, the outside door wasn't even attached to the building anymore. Having been busted down by mobs of villagers and sometimes even his fellow shinobi, Naruto just gave up trying to fix it. He was the only tenant in the building anyway, everyone else was gone. Refusing to live in the same building as him.
Those four consisted of Kakashi, Iruka, Sasuke and Sakura. They're eyes connected, a mutual worry being shared amongst them. Entering the building, they quickly ascended the stairs to Naruto's apartment. Slowly, Iruka lifted his fist and knocked on the door.
"Naruto? It's me, listen I'm sorry about earlier. Do you want to go out and get some ramen? It's my treat! Your team is here as well, maybe we can all go together? What do you say?" Iruka's voice carried through the cheap wooden door. He was greeted with silence from the other side.
"Whatever, he must not be here then!" Sakura exclaimed, before turning to Sasuke. "How about we go get something to eat instead Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke merely ignored the girl, his focus on the wooden door. His glare was fierce, it was amazing the door didn't spontaneously combust from it. Why wasn't the dobe answering the door?
After a few more minutes of silence, Kakashi let out a small sigh. He reached up and tried the door knob. It twisted with ease, allowing them access into the small apartment. Upon entering they were greeted with a putrid smell. Gasping in shock and disgust, they all covered their faces. Minus Kakashi, who was already protected from the smell due to his mask.
Moldy food sat untouched on the counter, empty ramen cups littered floors, dirty dishes sat in the sink. Any furniture in the apartment that wasn't completely destroyed, was covered in gashes and burn marks. On the walls, there were hateful words scratched into the paint. "Demon" was the most used word on the walls, Sasuke and Sakura stood in the middle of the room in shock.
Who could do this? Why would they do something so terrible? Was the thought that kept going through their minds.
"Sensei, what happened here? Why would someone do something like this?" Sakura asked hysterically. Her eyes watering at the thought of such cruelty. Was this how Naruto lived, why had he not asked for help?
Iruka and Kakashi both shook with restrained rage, how could these people be so cruel? Naruto was merely a child, he should not know such horrors. There was only one closed door in the apartment, upon entering the room they discovered it must be the bedroom. A poor excuse of one, inside the room there was only a couple old ratty looking blankets piled on the floor, Naruto's make shift bed.
"I never knew this was how he lived…" Iruka's pained voice was the only sound in the apartment. Finally they all left the apartment building, no one wanted to say anything more. How could I not have known?! Was the thought going through all their minds.
"We need to find Naruto. Let's split up." Kakashi spoke, before he turned and jumped away. Everyone else followed suit right after, they needed to find Naruto. A feeling of unease going through all of them.
The wind blew through the blonde hair, smelling of damp grass and flowers. This was his favorite place, it was quiet. No one ever came up here to look for him, he could be at peace here. The tears kept falling from his eyes, he saw no use to wipe them away anymore. He lifted his arms, holding them up by his sides. It would be just like flying. He always wanted to fly. Watching the birds in the sky was one of his favorite things to do, they were so free. He wanted to be free too.
The sadness was eating him alive, killing him, and killing everything that made him Naruto. Until there was nothing left, just an empty shell of a young blonde boy. The hatred of the villagers was unbearable, what had he ever done to deserve this? The beatings, the harsh words, the constant glares. It was terrible enough that they all hated him, and just when he thought he had found friends. It seemed he didn't know how to be a friend, he was just as alone as he was before.
Alone. I could be alone, in the sky. I can fly….
He jumped.
I'm flying… I'm free…
He smiled.
Screaming, everyone was screaming. It was chaos, everyone was running away. Parents holding their children, friends holding each other. There was sobbing, hysterical sobbing. Someone jumped from the Hokage Mountain, they were dead. How could this have happened?
Sasuke was the first to arrive, he fought his way to the front the crowd that had gathered. It couldn't be, Naruto would never… !
Kakashi was the second to arrive, he teleported to where he could feel Sasuke's chakra emitting from. This was chaos, he was had not heard the villagers words. He did not know what was waiting for him. !
Sakura never made it to the bottom to the bottom of the mountain, she had already heard. She fell to her knees, people running around her; not noticing her presence. She cried, tears and screams she did not know she possessed came out of her. Oh kami, no…
Iruka was the last to arrive, he refused to believe it. There was no way it was true, his surrogate son would not have done this. He shoved people out of his way, he needed to see. He needed to look upon the poor soul that jumped, just to be sure that it was not his surrogate son. Someone grabbed his arms, stopping his advance into the opening. It was Kakashi, his grip was so painfully tight, there would be bruises left behind.
"No! Don't go over there, you do not need to see this Iruka!" he yelled at him, but Iruka would not listen. He punched him in the face, a cheap shot, but it got the trick done. Kakashi was gone, and now Iruka would finally see that it wasn-
"NARUTO!"
A broken body with a small smile on its face lay mangled on the rocks, the blonde hair was turning red with blood. Within the hand, was a piece of paper, his last words.
If I died…would you cry?
A simple turn of a page
If I died…would you cry?
Of course not, you wouldn't be here to annoy me
If I died…would you cry?
What kind of question is that?
If I died….would you cry?
Not right now.
If you died…..would I cry?
Yes I would, cause then I'd have no reason to live.
Now there's only one question to ask…
If I died…... would you cry?