Die to Let Live
By: Tiki Rane Gobell
Consciousness came back to him slowly, but the cold stone underneath him was quick to bite at his skin, raising goose bumps and making him shiver against his will.
Where was he?
How did he get here?
Naruto could not answer. He put the coldness and the hardness of the stone that was making him uncomfortable to the back of his mind. He focused on remembering what was going on.
Ah, he remembered. He remembered fighting Sasuke one moment. What happened there? Did he win or lose? Did he break his promise to Sakura again? He couldn't remember fully. It all happened so fast. He and Sasuke were at each others throats and then him….that's right…Itachi showed up. Itachi knocked Sasuke out from behind, tossing him away like a rag doll. Sasuke still was not strong enough, even after all his sacrifices.
And then Itachi approached Naruto, calmly and slowly. He taunted the kitsune container with his polite words. Then he disappeared from in front of Naruto suddenly. And then the world went black. That must mean that he was currently lying on the hard stone of the Akatsuki liar, whose position not even Jiraiya's spy network could find.
"You're awake." That voice- so much like his younger brother's and yet so different. There were no good memories attributed to that voice.
"What's going on?" Naruto yelled into the dark, echoing room.
He was met with silence, as if the room had gone suddenly empty. But Naruto knew that the Uchiha was still there. The Uchiha was still watching, guarding perhaps even.
Naruto's mind processed the situation more thoroughly. There was only one conclusion: he was biding his time to die. He was captured by Akatsuki and they were going to extract the demon from him and he would die and they would take over the world.
Would he allow that? Could he prevent it? He could take his own life, the thought passed through his head. He had promised himself that he would never let the fox out, not without dying. There was surely a sharp rock he could impale through his heart - the only injury that could probably defeat the kitsune's healing abilities.
Don't deceive yourself, mortal. I will heal that too. I am much stronger than you will ever dream of being.
You're listening to my thoughts? Well, you're wrong, fox. I'm stronger than you give me credit for.
You are not strong compared to me, mortal. Try to kill yourself, you will see. You will start out full of determination, but as the rock pierces your flesh and enters your heart, your determination will break. You will call out to me to let you live a few more maggot-ridden moments. You cannot fight it. You are mortal and will forget everyone else just to live.
You are still wrong. I will kill myself to prevent Akatsuki from using you. I made a promise to myself and –
You will fail. Every cell of your body will call out for my help. You will choose preserving yourself over those other disgusting fleshly beings you call friends. They are only your friends because they know that you would fight for them and give everything you have to them. They are using you.
It does not matter, fox. Whether you are right or not, my friends are my friends, my precious people. They are the reason I continued to live and they are the reason I will die.
See, they make you weak, not strong. You said it yourself.
They do not make me weak! I'll show you fox! They will give me the power to defeat you! I will die to let them live!
And just as Naruto had promised himself he would do if he was ever caught by the Akatsuki, he killed himself.
His fingers found a sharp stone on the ground and he thrust it deep within his chest before his captor could prevent it. The blood poured from him and Naruto met pain beyond pain. But he endured. And even when the world was swirling, the edges growing dim, and his body growing cold, Naruto still resisted the call of survival.
It was right there, under a seal, the power that would let him live. But his burden was his own and he would not thrust it upon the rest of the world. Naruto took the Kyuubi to the afterlife with him. He died to let others live. He did what many others would never be able to do.
Upon a stone in a grassy spot in Konoha - where shinobi go to remember the meaning of ultimate sacrifice - are carved the words, "Die to Let Live."
O0o. The End .o0O