Against all the odds, Konoha has stood firm and proud during the brink of destruction for many times.
"How were you so certain about that, Oji-san?"
His whisper fell to deaf ears, no one coming to his answer. The ghost of the Third did not palm his back either. The death shall stay death, the weight of such somber thought painfully clenching around his heart, and his resolve steeled sharper, deadlier.
The village's history is marked by times of blood and loss, symptoms engraved in our culture and I even dare to say blood since our times of foundation. One only needs to look at the archives of the Senju and the Uchiha to further understand how perilous those moments were, how many fell to propel the architecture of this nation.
With a harsh inhale the debris and smoke clouding his senses were left ignored, his fingers snapping to a familiar formation. Three forms made themselves known to the world parallel to his sides, and he started a countdown in return. One of the clones followed with his own set of hand seals, disappearing underground as in quicksand. The others just nodded and prepared accordingly for his wishes.
Conflict marred the lands as the clans battled for further power and influence, and even then, the most supreme accorded to further a joint of peace. Shadows fell upon this village again with the actions of a resentful Uchiha Madara, later on with the first world ninja war which took our leader's life.
The sound of steel grinding against thousands of whetstones permeated the air, and with it, a pitch so hurtful to the ears many would recoil in shock. Smoke parted as Saturn brought to earth traveled through space to slice and render its target asunder.
Konoha has tasted war since its birth. It's caressed it in its youth, handled it in the dawn of its adulthood, and has come back undaunted every single time.
The ringed eyes of a stoic Pain looked past the shining orb of light, locking in place with his. "Do you still want to dance?"
The cloaked fatso took his place at the front, Preta's hands barred in preparation for the impact. The grinding turned deafening as it clashed with the absorption barrier and no soon after the illusion dispelled, leaving a maniacally grinning Naruto to plunge steel through the man's eyes and bring him down to earth, a god robbed of his place at the stars.
Behind him, two duplicates of Saturn bloomed out of the cloud of smoke. The eyes of Deva turned from surprised to critically fearful.
At the same time, another clone sprung from the earth, slashing the rear's Achilles joints with pinpoint accuracy, a devastating punch to the spine following next. He was a dead man, and they all knew it.
The Naraka Path would lay down the floor in a manner of seconds at best and minutes at worst, but he would die, and Deva would not have his revival wildcard anymore.
"DIE ALREADY!"
The Rasenshurikens gained speed as the two clones quickly brought their arms on the remaining enemy without success, their lives ended with a quick slash of iron courtesy of the later. Adrenaline at its most critical point made both realize what would happen in the next seconds as Naruto cursed the hopeful look Pain had gained.
Deva jumped, twisting in midair to position himself at the center of both projectiles' trajectory and shouted. The air inflated, split, and the omnipotent push of the man came raining down again, dispelling both the real and the illusory technique in a span of a glance. The concussive force reached Naruto like a truck, shortly sent flying without nature's potent chakra to harden his limbs.
He ate through stone and ground, nothing stopping him from colliding against the rubbles of the two as he sailed and gasped from the pain. He tasted iron, and felt warm blood and water drip from the top of his hair, down into his eyebrows, passing past his cheeks, going further down his face.
Naruto instinctively made a snap of his fingers below the somber atmosphere. His pain was nothing compared to those of his comrades under metric tons of concrete and wood.
C'mon. Get up. Fight for them. The faces of the people he came to known throughout his life sprung forth, and it was Jiraiya's smile that snapped his eyes open in defiance and made him raise his torso from the floor.
Fight, you useless bastard! Are you not here to save them?
Thunder reverberated, rain falling at its call, and Naruto cursed, eyes stinging in frustration as he heard the voice of the man he had found to hate the most. He knew those purple orbs would forever haunt him even in death.
"You've proven powerful. You represent human's uppermost pinnacle, always raging against the end of its life. I respect that." Pen's voice was soothing, calm, like the one of a father teaching its children a simple lesson in response to his naivety, and it only made him see redder than ever.
"But life's meant to end always. It's the only certainty. And just as your body will slowly decompose to return its energy to the earth, your demise will ultimately serve to assert peace and justice in this land, and with it, new life, and hope."
A scoff was his answer, red eyes and sharp irises looking at him with abject disbelief. "Peace. Hope." He tasted the sound of those words, and they were nothing but spoiled and rotten.
"Do not fuck around with me! My master, my professor, my comrades, my village…!" The blond raised to his knees, his teeth sharpening, a rich rancorous voice proceeding from the pits of his lungs. Naruto looked at the man who'd done the deed with defiance and hate.
The malice of the Kyūbi held nothing to his own right now as the sorrowful scream of hatred reverberated from the depths of his soul. "After all you've done, don't you DARE talk about peace and justice!"
The strength of his words left him without air for a second. The hypnotic circles of the Rinnengan only spun without giving anything away.
"Tell me, what is your goal?"
"I'm taking you down! And then, I'll bring peace to the shinobi world, Akatsuki remains no more than dust and ashes when I'm done with you!"
"I see. That is noble of you." Deva looked up, digesting his words for a second, and started to walk in circles around him.
"That would indeed be justice. However…" Naruto glared back, his mouth a snarl as Pain turned to him with a scowl in his unmarred façade.
"My family, my comrades, my village. They suffered the same fate by you Konoha shinobi. How is it fair to only allow you people to preach about peace and justice as we are left buried below our closest ones' own blood?"
And that was the gist of it, the problem he couldn't find answers to as much as he tried to get his head around it: the endless cycle of conflict and hate that permeated the system with pollution. It had turned Orochimaru against his own village. It had turned Sasuke against his friends. It too had turned Jiraiya and his father against the rest of the world outside Konoha.
And now, the sins of his village's founders made Pain turn against his home in question, making him by proxy respond in kind.
It will not end, he realized. Even if he somehow triumphed over this man, someone, somewhere, would respond to his actions just as he's doing now, and they would feel entirely justified in doing as much.
But even as the rational part of his mind seemed to split around these questions and their respective answers, his emotional side couldn't make it through the ride. Or rather, it didn't want to.
"You are just using your own reasoning and grief to justify your actions! This village has done no wrong to rain for over the last thirty years. The people I've grown with have not made any advances towards your people! You think I will just let you ride the wave, kill innocents and be happy with it? Are you out of your fucking mind?!"
"You only see the tree whereas I can see the forest. Even if I have to become the world's enemy, I'll rise above such title to ascertain what's good for everyone."
"Who are you to have a say in that?!" Raise your voice. Invade his attention. Make him talk.
"I am the last descendant of the Sage, the only man who stood for something so meaningful as connections and unity! I bore his eyes myself! I simply know better.
"As we live, as we grow, we are naturally predisposed for conflict. Don't you see, child? We must realize that people can't or will not empathize with others. But pain, pain is something everyone can feel and relate to."
"I disagree." And at that, rocks exploded in smoke, hands vaulted from the earth, and the field was leveled with the blonde's minions in haste, all their focus only reserved towards the madman.
And by the moment the first illusion dispelled, Naruto felt nature's mantle gently sooth his wounds and sharpen his senses, and he knew red painted his eyelids once again.
And as Deva's eyes turned to open plates of shock and terror, Naruto's half-closed his in concentration before shutting off, the air taking him as he toad-leaped away from the cavalry.
And as hundreds raised their knives, their fists, invoking their father's legacy in their hands, Deva instinctively reached to the sacred powers bestowed upon him, an almighty push rendering earth, rain, and bodies asunder.
And as the Kyūbi plunged malice through his coils and clusters of tenketsu, Naruto crouched down the moment he made contact with the earth and returned to the fray with another jump that left nothing but wreckage behind, once again upon the false god.
Kicks were exchanged, blows were returned, but Deva couldn't help as blood flew from his mouth when his stance opened and received a gentle fist to the gut. The blond couldn't help it either as he was pushed down with gravity's weight onto his back in response.
"ENOUGH! Enough, I say!" And with another push much stronger than the one before, Naruto was left buried down earth, the pressure so vast it did not let him even scream.
"To the seven depths of hell with you, fox! I tried for a compromise, I really did! All of this could have been avoided! Your village is nothing but garbage and ruins because of their insistence on protecting their ultimate tool for war! You are but a living failure left by the First when he decided to split the Bijuu amongst the villages, an animal to be used for the sole purpose of conflict! How DARE you talk about peace!"
The onslaught was brutal, the combination of three almighty pushes tearing down the mother rock left behind after the colossal attack with which he first started his assault to level the village. Naruto had just received megatons of force detonated a pinpoint blank range to crush him against the rock-hard structures of the earth itself.
It should have been enough. It had to be enough.
But as red bled through the cracks, and a corona of crimson made itself known to the world, Pain knew he was fighting against another kind of god altogether.
A red hand of power tore through all the rubble in his aim, and if not for battle-hardened instincts screaming at him, he was sure he could have been turned to paste in an instant. Deva jumped and dashed as the esoteric hand followed where he went, only stopped as he climbed over the hill and pushed with all his conviction behind it to kick the appendage back.
Under the storm of rain and smoke appeared Naruto, white coat and Kevlar vest torn apart, all the upper left side of his torso bared to the world with rapidly healing wounds marring its surface. A fox cloak of red covered his entire being, three tails madly lashing behind him.
Yes, Pain realized. Even if I defeat this man, for he was a boy no longer, there will be a beast underneath to fight in his place.
And as such, with much it pained to admit it as he fled from danger, he knew he only had one option left to tame the mightiest of the bijuu.
I had hoped to be stronger, wished to be better to not use this. Nagato completed the sings and clapped his hands, summoning forth what remaining strength he had on him. Konan stood worriedly closer, staring in disbelief.
Deva reached past the outskirts of the village, the dense greenery and rivers serving to hide his presence, and with a whisper and a black orb in his hand, he took the world by storm:
"Chibaku Tensei."
No standing Konoha citizen could suppress their horror staring at a picture so devil, so unreal, so abstract from imagination that it could only be meant to be a presage to the apocalypse.
Their village in ruins. The sky raging through rainstorm and thunder. And as if it wasn't enough, the earth gravitating towards the air, forming an increasingly larger satellite hundreds of meters above. Large chunks of soil and rock peppered through the skies in quick succession at the outsides of the village, one bigger than the next, and soon enough, a black, colossal mass of earth stood at the eye of the hurricane.
Clouds roared, winds screamed, and people cried. Their minds slowly comprehended that Pain's first attack had been nothing compared to this.
"What—what in the world?" Shikamaru started sweating cold, the pain of his wounds left ignored. Even the state of health of his father couldn't make him break his trance.
He gulped, and the abject horror in his voice clawed out from the depths of his sternum. "WHAT IN THE HELLS?"
"We are doomed. This is the end. This is the end." Everyone stared. Everyone whispered. Everyone thought the world had gone insane.
"Has God left us?"
"Dad? Dad where are you?!"
"Mom…" Sobs. Gaps. Shrieks. Families huddled together, even amongst their deceased members. Children wept, desperate to stop the nightmare, their parents unable to do it for themselves while trying to hold back tears. Others frantically buried their hands in the rubble to move part of the wreckage away and get to their trapped loved ones.
Hope had left every single one of them, hope that had risen the moment a certain knucklehead came crashing down with heavenly power to save everyone.
Kakashi remained unconscious to the world even as chaos fell around him.
Choji could only grab his father's hand, the man's eyes no longer open to the world, desperate for his protection, for his fatherly care, and couldn't find any response in them.
Hinata just stared transfixed as she hugged Hanabi, and regretted how she wouldn't be able to make amends with their father.
Ino huddled closer to Sakura, her family nowhere in sight. The later bit her lip hard and pumped even more chakra inside Tsunade's frail body, her eyes stinging. Was she acting in vain? Was it all for naught?
Hollows answered back, and she could only weep silently in turn. Naruto…
And then, it happened.
Everyone stopped transfixed as a star blazed atop the highest building still standing in the village.
It was but a tiny blue and pale yellow dot in the distance, switching between colors and increasing its size as the seconds passed. At first, it was a light to the night sky as the structure of evil was to the moon, the difference immeasurable.
But soon enough, the air brought traces of a sound so sharp she closed an eye and furrowed her brow, disturbed and bothered. Winds started slapping her face and picked up speed. Thousands of leaves and papers flew around the village, dotting a seemingly gray landscape with points of green, white and brown, just as the bright, twinkling star roared.
A tower supporting the sun ready to face the oncoming catastrophe, she realized.
Her heart leaped to her throat, just like it did for everyone else watching the unearthly scene, and she staked everything in favor of the blond boy that called her forehead cutesy when they were children.
Naruto had known fear throughout his entire life.
Fear of the proletariat as they watched him from afar, eyes chockfull with hate, as they considered him a manifestation of the evil that had done them wrong.
Fear of the beast inside him, of what it represented, of how thin and frail was the piece of paper that held such maelstrom back from rendering him apart from the insides.
Fear of Gaara when he first met him, his malice so great he forgot about his comrades and cared only for his survival.
Fear of Orochimaru, of his god complex and maniac nature, of what he was capable of, of what he would do to his long lost friend.
Fear of Akatsuki, of their power, of how they were so eager to hunt him and end his life, of how they sprayed death to everyone that cared.
Fear had been by his side all along. He was born in-between fear the moment his father sealed the fox inside him.
It would make his knees buckle, it would make him sweat cold, and it would make him pale in horror.
But as he remembered the texts of the Third to his father before his designation, he recalled what Uzumaki Naruto was all about.
Minato, there's little remaining from the time of this letter's writing until the big day. I've been wonderfully blessed to watch your growth since a few years back from the moment you were just but a toddler breaking records at the academy.
The blond made a sweeping glance around him, and as soon as he found his objective, he ran. His feet struggled against him, and he almost fell as they went slack thanks to their constant vibration. He kicked his anxiety-fueled thighs once, twice. He recovered and begun his track once more.
You've tasted the embrace of war, and it's no question many of my recommendations come as result of your actions during the bloodiest times; your quick thinking, your brilliant mind and seemingly unfathomable capability to end conflicts with limited casualties on our sides is something to be cultivated and refined. The position of Hokage will serve flawlessly for it.
A snap of fingers brought five clones at his sides, and with quick instructions, they all ran towards their designated places. They stopped shortly after, shot everything off, and started meditating.
Jiraiya had once told him about an artist that had perfectly captured the idea of peace on canvas in one of his travels around the world.
It had not been a quiet scenery where the sun shined unperturbed of all earth's demons, birds soaring up above the gentle wind.
Instead, it was a picture of chaos. Mad waves crashing and colliding against rocky shores, winds that picked up enough strength to rip trees from their roots. And amidst it, inside one of the tree's branches, laid a mother dove tending to its babies, all nestled coolly together.
Peace was not a place without problems or pain. Peace is the ability to remain steadfast and calm in our heart amidst such circumstances.
Below the rancorous winds and thunder, every clone meditated.
Thus, I write this letter as you are visiting the lands of Kumo to tell you the same thing my mentor the Second spoke about regarding his position. Konoha's not so much in need of its leader as its leader of its people. The fire of the village will burn without your presence. A village's continued existence doesn't rest on the shoulders of one individual, but in its citizen's mutual love and shared experiences through history.
The original found the apex of the highest vantage point closest to him in quick turns, shunshins, and jumps, then waited for a countdown to fire the gun in his head.
You are the fire's shadow, not its flame, he said, but just as you are its shadow, you must strive to fuel the embers that you desperately protect.
He ignored the restlessness that permeated his limbs and started with his breathing exercises. Powerful inhales with calm, paused exhales that filled him with oxygen and pumped blood to every part of his body. That core asserted gravity around it, so if he was to destabilize it with enough force…
You must permeate space with enough of your life to fend off any darkness and brighten Konoha's vestiges of hope, all for the sake of your children, of your friends, of your comrades, including the deaths of those that served this place before you, for you wouldn't be here if it were not for them.
The mental clock ringed with a bang, the guns fired, and Naruto felt nature bend to his will as the copies dispersed. He felt full from all of a sudden as if he had eaten through Ichiraku's entire storage and asked for added dessert.
There was a poem he used to read through the darkest of days, and here in this scribbles, I find myself wanting to give it to you. I hope it finds you clarity in any kind of turmoil.
As he summoned another two clones and brought down Saturn to earth with the grinds of steel against millions of whetstones, Naruto felt his father's coat tightly embrace him. A tear cascaded past his cheek, and he roared.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
It took every bit of control, every bit of refinement, but as he brought the deadliest weapon of his own making alive, more abundant and grander than ever before, he remembered the verses his father must have read that fateful day, and quietly asked if he had thought about it as the fox rampaged through Fire's land.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
Uzumaki Naruto was all about ninja.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
Ninja was all about resilience, about enduring what others could not.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
If he had to endure the entire weight of the moon itself—he absently thought while launching his triumph card, his wishes spinning inside that spinning golden ball—he would gladly do it in a heartbeat for his people.
The Rasenshuriken sliced and tore its way towards the core of the satellite, its trajectory locked in tight thanks to the ensuing pull of gravity.
Ironic. Gravity's as inevitable as death itself.
With a high pitched shriek, his father's pride and joy exploded in millions of cellular-sized razors that collided all at once.
Nagato witnessed, petrified, as his most brilliant piece of work collapsed and fell in a rain of shambles, the world laughing at his so-called godhood through it all. Deva's eyes turned gray, his body withered, and the once named child of prophecy knew he had lost.
After some time, the blond finally opened his eyes. The explosion had been so bright it had blinded him even through his eyelids.
The clouds had begun to part in small places, a tiny speck of light bathing him in gold. It was a picture so beautiful he stayed transfixed for a minute. Darkness gave away to the orange rays of the sun nearing its end at the west, as little by little the clouds transformed from gray to purple, red, and blue.
He allowed himself to bask in the afterglow of brief victory and breathed new air, elevating a prayer to those whose life had ended too soon.
It won't do to stay here. He's still out there.
With a quick shake of his head, the jailor politely requested for his payment, and waves upon waves of demonic currency rose in compensation, an ocean so vast he could use for the rest of the day and the following night.
He needed the Kyūbi for this one, no matter how dangerous his aid and corresponding tug-of-war seemed. His own reserves had been entirely spent. That he still moved spoke volumes of his Uzumaki nature and Jinchūriki status.
Mother Nature for her part had been incredibly thoughtful and caring, but even her aid wouldn't help him propel his limbs forward as much as the fox.
He looked back to his village, a frown marring his features. I can't leave them like this.
Coming to a decision, he glowed bright red to mold whatever energy he required. Then, he jumped down, multiplied by the hundreds, and left the rests of his home with quick, silent steps.
It had been something miraculous to observe the most unpredictable ninja of the village fending of what had promised to be the end of days as they knew it.
A thundering roar of happiness and delight traveled down every corner of Konoha in response, everyone is unbelieving of their luck.
It had been another to see hundreds of doppelgangers jumping around from one side to the other screaming orders while traversing through the streets and remnants of their home. "We move in groups of tens people! We don´t stop until everyone is accounted for, now move, move!"
Konohamaru stared in struck incredulity as four clones of Naruto appeared at his sides just as he struggled to lift a pillar that held an injured woman caught in the floor. He had told him to stop—his mind not processing the fact that they were clones, not the real thing—the injuries visible in his character that much painful to look at, his outfit battered and undone.
In turn, the blond had just ignored him and nodded towards the woman. "C'mon Konohamaru, I need you here. Go, go, go…!" He quickly snapped to attention, otherworldly comradery and motivation saturating his heart and limbs, and lifted with the others.
He vaguely heard what seemed to be many other voices similar to the one of his idol echoing in the distance.
"This man needs medical attention, I need a doc here ASAP!"
"Where is your mother boy? Shush, I'm here. I'm here."
He multiplied so far he must have been covering half of the village by now.
How can you give us so much? He had asked in his mind as he held back his emotions.
Likewise, others were in the same state of shock as the grandson of the Third, like Neji as he sought a doctor for the child he carried in his arms. Debris had fallen atop her, and he knew it was a matter of minutes until her death if she was not attended.
Move, his mind screamed as he painfully took another step. Both of his legs did not work correctly thanks to the damages received during the assault, and he fought hard to stand on his feet.
"Neji, here!"
Two blondes appeared in his peripheral vision, both looking much worse than him in hindsight, blood marrying their hairs and faces. Such trivial things did not stop them, however, as one took the girl from his fingers, the other placing himself in the front while offering his back. The Jōnin silently thanked him as he fell, his legs giving out.
"The Hyuga couldn't be prouder. I know you are hurting, but please lend me your strength. We need to locate the injured, and my eyes do not compare to yours. I'll be your legs in favor."
"Naruto…" He nodded against his shoulder and grabbed on tight.
You're wrong. Your eyes have always seen truer than mine.
They started moving without any further words on the matter.
Plenty thought about the irony of life just like a conflicted Takanaka Izobu. He flinched by the sudden appearance of the hero at his right, moving boulders and pieces of concrete that held his feet trapped. His fathers had died to the Kyūbi that sad tenth of October years ago, and he had been one of many that scorned the existence of the kid, openly insulting him as he strode through the streets with those pranks of his.
Why are you…? Why are you helping me? The blonde only looked coldly focused on his task, sweat and blood dripping from his chin.
"You should look at those injuries. Are you even in a state to help, boy?" It was the first time he called him boy, he realized.
"It's nothing. Have you got any family trapped down here old-man?"
The word family quickly spurred his reaction as he stuttered for an answer. He had forgotten about his family in his shock! "The-they must be! I've tried to move to what appears to be their voice, but my feet wouldn't budge."
Three new doppelgangers jumped down from God knows where, and it occurred to him that the boy had an uncanny resemblance to the fourth with his wild, bloodied yellow bangs and the white but worn and shredded coat he bore on top.
"Alright, be ready. We'll lift anything in the path and hold it in place. You'll grab onto your family and pull, okay?" At his nod, they got in place, flexed their knees, and inhaled. "Brace!"
With a unison cry of pain, they slowly but surely raised what happened to be the roof of his house, many pieces of concrete, wood, stone, and brick atop it. His eyes bulged in astonishment. The weight had to be unreal, and those four were lifting it as if their life depended on it!
"Old man!" One cried. He crouched down with a yelp and looked into the darkness beneath the wreckages. The wails of a child he heard and his eyes stung as the shouts of his wife followed soon after. "Izobu! Izobu! We are here! We need—
"I'M RIGHT HERE DARLING, I AM GOING IN!" Izobu crawled and crawled, letting his eyes and ears guide him towards his family through the narrow cave. They were in mostly decent conditions, he thanked God, but a large rock blocked their path to escape. He tried to move it to no avail, fearful of making the structure collapse over their heads.
"Boy, there's a rock here! There's a rock, and I can't get them out! I can't!"
Naruto grunted and cursed, the others backing him up. As in cue, three of them flexed their knees, taking impulse, and raised their hands higher. The fourth quickly dashed inside by the side of Izobu.
"Boy, I can't get them out!" He whimpered, struck with dread.
Naruto just laid on his back, put his feet on the rock and looked at him, his azure eyes able to shine in the dark. "Can you trust me?"
Can I? The cries of his son made him find the answer within a second. "Yes!"
"Ok! You'll grab onto your wife and child just as I push the rock. They'll have about a second to make it through!"
He could do that, but… "What about the structure?! It'll only collapse!"
"Trust in me! I'll be able to hold in long enough for you to escape! Make it fast, old man, here I go!"
The blond roared, indomitable, raging against the shudders of the massive rock as it slowly moved, dust and chunks of pebbles falling down over him in return. "Now!"
Izobu grabbed onto his wife and pulled, no soon after the foundations of the structure started collapsing. He closed his eyes, preparing for the worst, and felt nothing hit him on his head. He blinked them open and had a mind to almost shut them close within a second. Those azure orbs stared at him defiantly, about a hand-length away. The boy had switched places in a span of an instant and now held the entire roof on his back just above him.
"Mo-move!" He didn't question the order in his fear. He just pushed his wife with his son in arms forwards through the gap. The other three clones had crawled inside as well, using their legs to help them press the weight with much effort.
The family breached free and inhaled clean oxygen into their lungs, crying in relief. Izobu looked back into the caving structure and reached out.
"Crawl out boy! I'll help you get out!"
Azure eyes answered to his voice, piercing past his gaze for about a second. He nervously smiled back, and Izobu cursed himself for every insult he leveled at the man now responsible for his family's salvation.
"Thank you, but that'll be all!"
The building surrendered with a shriek, collapsing above all the clones. A cloud of smoke and dust swept around Izobu, and he had to clean his eyes to properly look at what happened.
They got in knowing they wouldn't be able to get out.
His wife held onto their child, her brown locks disheveled but beautiful at the same time, the sight making him realize how much of a fool he had been.
At the opposite side of town, Sakura for her part merely focused on the life in her hands as the experienced medic she was, called into the fray many times through the years; it was easier for her to ignore the yellow maelstrom occurring around her. Ino had left her side to help anyone she could a minute before, so she laid alone with her mentor now.
Tsunade badly needed the chakra transferal after she used all of her reserves to heal the citizens of the village with Katsuyu. She had been unconscious ever since, her heartbeat turning slower for every minute after her actions.
It had been over an hour, and her reserves could only hold for so long. Sakura held back the tears and did what she did best: focus on her hands, on her healing, and nothing else.
So focused she had been she didn't notice the pair of hands that clasped over her own seconds afterward.
"Let me." Naruto's voice sounded restless, but it held firm all the same. His bloodied, marred hands painted her pale ones in crimson, and with them, a surge of chakra came through.
She remembered something like this from a long time ago, as he helped lady Chiyo save Gaara on those plains outside of Suna. He had put his hands the same way as he did now, over hers, and offered his chakra to aid the frail woman to perform the jutsu that would claim her life in exchange for another.
"As soon as I poof out of existence, another will come. As soon as that other one poofs out, another will immediately take his place."
She couldn't hold back the sobs that trailed through her chest this time. "Naruto—!"
"And another, and another, until she's okay." She heard a sniff, but she didn't look up, focused on her work. "Until she's okay."
And just like that, the knucklehead not only defended his home but also made a place in everyone's heart as he helped rebuild theirs with his bare hands.
Konan walked in circles, her papers quickly traveling through the space of their abode, reinforcing it, packaging goods and supplies, and marking most of the walls of the tree with explosives.
She spoke in rapid bursts, her cold mannerisms no longer able to contain her worries.
"There's a hidden headquarter prepared for us in Rain as we speak. I never told you about it, since I thought we were never going to use it in the first place, but there's always a first, I had thought, and we can never be sure. You can berate me later if you want—
She snapped her head towards Nagato, eyebrows raised. "Why aren't you moving?"
The Uzumaki only glanced at her for a second. The terror in his system had given away to a calm unlike any other he had ever felt in his life.
"The silent treatment is way above from the likes of you, Nagato. Speak to me." She pleaded, moving closer.
"The boy is way too fast and powerful Konan. Maybe you could escape, but with me dragging you down, we'll both be cut down on the road no questions asked. I'm staying."
Her smoldering eyes turned sorrowful, and he hurt. "How can you even say that? The chances we don't take are the ones that we'll always lose. Maybe if I can—
"Konan." His voice cut through her, silencing his any complaints. "I used that jutsu as a last resort, and it failed. I am in no state to continue fighting. He's proven too powerful." He looked down with a sad smile on display. "I'm actually okay with the thought of my own demise, but I wouldn't be able to go down that path if I knew you were following just behind. You are the only thing keeping me sane right now, the only thing I value beyond everything else. Please. I can plead for your life, but I'd rather not take chances."
She looked at his dearest friend with unshed tears. "As if I'll leave you."
"No worries there, ojou-san. No one won't be leaving this place."
Both froze as they heard his voice. They had always stood strongest over anyone else. It felt as if they were children once more, defenseless against the forces that torn apart their country, a man of spiked white hair the only fortress to hide under.
Two clawed hands tore through the walls and rendered paper to waste, the tree burning to embers as the corrosive chakra of the Kyūbi ignited all of the fake wood in its touch. Konan did not pay attention to the scattered remnants of her art as it flowed free in the currents of the wind akin to burning snowflakes. She didn't even bother with the explosives.
The safe darkness gave out to the hurting light of the sun, and Uzumaki Naruto stood with shoulders back, face high, tears marrying his whiskered cheeks.
They weren't hidden now. They were open to the world to be judged, and the executioner endeavored to give his words.
"I've cried a lot on my way here, you know? These memories that spray and wet my mind, of the people that have suffered under your responsibility, they hurt like hell."
The mourning that marred his voice couldn't hide the malice and hate behind every word.
"I've thought about my answer to your question, how to deal with the hate that permeates this world, and found my attempts failing. That pervert stood for ideas I want to closely follow for the rest of my life. He was a man wise beyond his years."
The blonde's torso started to perspire smoke, reddening itself more than the blood that stained it ever could. The seaweed Kevlar vest had seen its worst day by far, as well as the white coat that rested atop it. The former only held onto Naruto's torso by the effect of the zip and the intact right shoulder pad, and the later had half of its high collar and right side missing, the flames that licked it down below torn to shreds as well.
"But it seems I can't do as well as him because I can't find myself forgiving you for everything you did. I know shits fucked up when my hate surpasses that of the fox inside my gut, but I can't even begin to care."
Tears stroke downwards onto the floor and eyes of pure malice froze both Nagato and Konan with fear.
"I only want to rip you two apart to shreds."
Konan acted first, opening her arms wide and standing in front of her friend as a barrier. Nagato shouted at her to run.
Her orange eyes filled with waterfalls locked with a similar spattered red, and Naruto's mind cracked.
The image he had formed of these two people did hold to the expectations, and he went almost insane at that thought.
"How can you act like caring and normal people?! What the fucks wrong with you?! Aren't you monstrous?! Aren't you alien?! Are you not filled to the brims with hate and only hate?!"
He grabbed his head in frustration and screamed. "GOD DAMN IT!" He raised his hands and subsequently brought them down. The earth shook with tremors so strong birds miles away fled away from their nests.
A resounding silence filled the space in between. A tear of sweat trickled down Konan's face as she kept herself from breathing even once.
"Fuck it," He finally said. "You only live once. I am not for a second regretting my actions years later. Seems it always falls on me to ask the questions before the shooting."
He sat on the grass, his eyes back to sapphire, and raised a finger. "You have one chance to speak. Give me a reason for why you've done as you did. I sense the littlest incline of intent in attacking, I cut you down. I sense the littlest incline of intent in escaping, I cut you down. I'll start first with the woman," Nagato's face marred in abject dismay at the idea, "and then I'll go with you. There's no puppetry demon to return your mangled body back from the dead now, so I suggest you take your chances."
And left with no other choice, they spoke.
Naruto walked in between oaks and below the canopy of Fire's tallest trees. Orange bled through the spaces between leaves as the sunset closed upon the day.
He put one foot in front of the other and repeated the sequence. This was his only focus, his only wish. There wasn't room for anything else.
His mind had fried with the onslaught of information from his clones, and the recent talk, if he could call it that, with Nagato and Konan had occupied any space available in his short-term memory storage.
The physical and emotional exhaustion resulted from past events dragged his head and shoulders low. Even if he had no perilous injury to bleed from, his body was tired past limits he didn't believe existed. His arms felt raw, his legs stiff, his chest tight, way too tight, his core tender and sore.
The trauma from the loss of home as he knew it fell like an iron ingot down his stomach. His tears were spent, but he admitted that fresh ones would spring anew by tomorrow.
I feel cold. A blanket and a warm bed would feel good.
Seeing as he was falling asleep from exhaustion, he bit his lip hard.
No, no. I still need to help. The village's destroyed.
He didn't make it past the next step when he crashed down onto the floor. His hand failed to find support in one of the trunks at his side, the resulting momentum sending him spiraling across the grass.
Ah. Am I dying? No, that's stupid.
He slowly looked to the left, more trees, foliage, and orange to greet the sight. The sun was finally hiding in the mountains afar.
Am I falling to sleep? Yes. Yes, that's it.
He wanted to do something before resting though. It was both urgent and important. There were blurry images passing through his mind, hazy shapes calling out to him.
I can't remember. I can't remember.
That thought seemed to wake him a little, if only because of his worries.
Why can't I remember? What's so important that I need to recall?
He started to crawl, his shoulders and knees the first to move to propel him forward, but soon after stopped exhausted.
Damn it.
He heard the rustles of leaf from above, and slowly looked upon the source of the noise. Two shadowed figures closed on him, landing but a few steps away.
It wasn't Naruto that reacted to the possibility of danger this once. It was the Kyūbi. Sapphire turned split red, frayed chakra coils oversaturated once more with the power of the ninth, and Naruto mechanically rose with his hands balled into fists.
Tenten and Guy only raised their hands in a gesture of peace. The girl spoke first, "Naruto, it's us! We've been searching everywhere for you!"
The fox growled in recognition and soon receded back into its prison. The resulting effect from the pull made Naruto's chakra coils painfully grate as the energy seeped away back to its source, in turn, sending him tumbling forward once again as an aftershock.
Guy caught him in his arms. The Jōnin made a quick analysis of his visible injuries and hopped the blonde onto his back.
"We've got you, son. There's nothing else for you to worry about." Naruto only mumbled back in return, a frown marring his bloodied face.
"Is he okay, sensei?"
"He needs rest and deep healing. I doubt he will be able to fight as he did today during the upcoming months even if the Kyūbi is there to heal him."
Tenten gulped with apprehensive acceptance, looking at the one responsible for their continued survival. He had been standing and walking for hours after the fight at the village.
Even after doing what he did, he was ready to fight again?
They silently made their way back home, taking quick breaks in between to let Naruto rest for a minute. All the jumping wouldn't do well to his health at the very moment, even if he rode as a passenger.
They strode through the mostly unblocked streets of the remnants of Konoha, many looking at them as they passed. Most of the hero's clones had dispersed already so there were few blonde saviors left aiding the people. It was to be expected, really. Most of the injured had been accounted for.
As Guy approached the open medic tent, he realized they had gathered a following behind. Many citizens of various age groups stood like shadows at his back, worriedly glancing at the man in a coat of blood and white, but none spoke aloud out of respect.
Ino had just finished healing the wounds from a soldier injured on duty when she saw the mop of yellow, and the reaction was immediate.
"Make space people! Make space, quickly!" Nurses and workers moved some of the now healing injured away from the mass. Ino appeared in a flash before Guy as he sat down to carefully lay Naruto in a makeshift bed of wool and cotton above a timber plank.
Naruto did not have any visible outer injuries apart from second to third-degree burns that ran from his shoulders down past his chest. She shivered. That was Kyūbi for you.
A deeper scan with her mystic palms revealed cracked and fractured bones, mainly his ribs, dangerously close to his lungs. It looked as if his chest had caved onto itself, the upper thoracic cage pressuring the organs inside. How bones could bend such way and not break apart, she didn't know.
His right arm's tendons were also worse for wear. The ligaments around his knees were similarly damaged as a result of his leaps and subsequent falls. His chakra coils were another convoluted mess overall that she didn't have time to deal with at the moment.
She couldn't heal him here. Not in this state. She looked at Guy in worry. "We need to move him inside the emergency unit right now."
"We'll help to move him!" A boy had shouted in the front. She raised her gaze to dozens of expectant adults, children, and old. "The plank, we can pass it over us."
With so little space, it'll make do. She nodded and called for Tenten. "At one, at two, at three!" The women and the man raised him in their shoulders and walked towards the line. In short time, the people helped transport the plank atop their heads, every touch careful, every graze of fingers tender and caring.
This man had saved their lives in more ways than one, and they fervidly wanted to return the favor, wanted to feel the weight of him pressing against them. If the Hokage had been the cure to lessen the amount of injured, then Naruto had been the shield and the shovel simultaneously. The former had protected them from their demise, the later had rescued them from the depths of the earth.
This was their hero. This was their light.
Ino would leave the unit many hours later to a sea of sky lanterns floating above the tent, their golden light bathing the curtain of the night with a tint of oranges and red, and she knew Konoha would continue on.
She rubbed her swollen eyes in response, elevating a prayer.
Author's Notes:
There's no return from the death here folks. The dead will stay dead.
The poem's titled Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening, by the grand Robert Frost.