Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto or Celine Dion's "Ten Days" the lyrics are easily available, so if you like them, please don't bother me about it.
Note: Both the song used and the lyrics are available to the general public.
Daisuke: I apologize to the people who read and liked this story, but I'm not sure why they removed it. Any problems that were possibilities have been fixed. Thank you.
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An eight-year old boy, blonde spiky hair bobbing in the wind, white shirt with a red swirl on its front flapping behind him, blue shorts pumping with his legs, whisker-mark scars stretching to keep the boy's sorrow away from view, eyes unable to show themselves, ran down through the crowd of people on the village street. As the people recognized him, they immediately parted, holding their children, his possible friends, back from trying to follow and comfort him. This was Naruto Uzumaki, secret child of the fourth hokage, host to the one demon that had become angry enough (for a reason no one knew) to attack a ninja village, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-tailed fox demon. As the boy ran, trying to escape the people before they started throwing rocks or ninja tools at him to keep him away, he did not notice the young boy his age that walked slowly in the same direction, dark hair hanging down in the front and sticking up in spikes in the back, his navy tee-shirt decorated only by the red fan of the Uchiha clan on his back, tan arm covers keeping all arm skin below the elbow unexposed as his hands were in the pockets of his tan shorts.
At
the doorway of my heart
All the leaves have fallen down
And
though I try to pick them up
There're so many I think I'll drown
Naruto ran into the boy's back, falling, sapphire blue eyes snapping open to see how he could survive and escape the angry villager, then noticed the boy was still standing, calmly looking upon Naruto as if there was nothing wrong. Naruto then, now from his position on the ground, noticed the look in the boy's eyes. The boy seemed to be calm and collected, but underneath, just like Naruto, there was a deep sadness, a hurt that few if any could heal, something Naruto had never seen in anyone other than himself before. There was tragedy in those eyes, one that could never be reversed.
Ten
days have come and gone
Ten days and I'm all alone
And all that
I can do is
Pray and pray
The two boys were kindred, but in being kindred, were alone. Only the other, if they chose to do so, would be able to understand him. As Naruto stood, he noticed a taller, older version of the boy he had run into, looking upon the scene with sadness and regret. Naruto smiled at him, the first true smile he had made in a long time, and the man (he seemed older than a boy, at least to Naruto, at the very least he had a hiai-ate around his forehead) looked shocked. Naruto walked over to him with his huge smile on his face, saying to the man, "Don't worry, there is nothing to regret. I'm sure that if you are here and you regret your actions, there was never any malice behind them to begin with. And if there was never any intent behind them to begin with, I'm sure I will forgive you. By the look on your face, there are many more hard times for me ahead; but don't let it bother you, even with Kyuubi, I'll pull through no matter what." Naruto had known from the moment he laid eyes on the man that he was from the future, and was somehow watching the events of his future's past, and thus had the thought of Naruto in mind. Naruto knew that this man was going to be the closest to his heart no matter what happened.
Ten
days I've seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day
But all I've
gotta do is
Pray and pray
After that, Naruto didn't see the man for about a year, but in the meantime had started at the academy, found out how the boy (whose name was now known as Sasuke) had fared, and found that they didn't get along well together, but he was still working on getting him to open up. It took many tactics, but he found one that seemed to be working, all he had to do was keep up a facade that he was a ditzy hyperactive clown, always tripping or doing something wrong.
And
pray
It took about the year for him to start with this tactic, but one day, as he was teasing Sasuke for some reason or another, he noticed the older one in the back corner of the room, and even though there was a student right in front of him, no one seemed to notice other than Naruto. Despite that, he gave the man a smile too quick for any amature to catch, but the older Sasuke caught it. He watched as Naruto continued to tease his younger counterpart, and suddenly realized what Naruto was doing. He would see, in the next glance he got, exactly how effective it truly was.
At the doorway of my life
I feel the pain but feel no shame
What I've gotta keep inside
Some things have changed but I'm still the same
Another year later, the two were ten years old. Naruto already had the goggles where his hiai-ate was going to be another two years later, and the orange jumpsuit was already in place. Naruto was poking at Sasuke again, the avenger had opened up just slightly, sitting with his head on his palm, a cynical look on his face rather than the mopey little boy he had been the year before. Again the older Sasuke was standing in the back of the classroom watching the scene with surprise and slight annoyance at not noticing what Naruto had been doing to him. Naruto flashed him a grin from where he was pestering the younger counterpart. Naruto seemed to have no shame in teasing Sasuke to get a rise out of him, though now that the older one was there he could see the obvious pain of having to be mean to get the attention from him. The other students had started to become more like their future selves, but Naruto never seemed to change, even at the most critical point of change in their lives he never changed.
Ten days have come and gone
Ten days and I'm all alone
And all that I can do is
Pray and pray
Yet another year later, a year before the exams that would change their lives forever, Naruto had pestered Sasuke into going to Ichiraku to try ramen for the first time. Naruto had tailed him, watching from the wall outside the stand as Sasuke's face lit up just a little at the taste of the ramen. The older Sasuke appeared behind Naruto in the alley next to Ichiraku, and took this chance to speak with Naruto for the first time in his journey. "Why is it that you try so hard to change me for better, when you already know that I'm going to do something bad?" he asked the young Naruto. Naruto just turned to him and gave him a sad but reassuring smile, and just before Sasuke disappeared to the next moment, he spoke.
"Because I've loved you since the moment we first met, and whatever it is you did, it will only strengthen that love."
Ten days I've seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day
But all I've gotta do is
Pray and pray
Then Sasuke was watching a succession of small events, Naruto failing the exam, stealing the scroll and beating Mizuki, him and Sasuke kissing two mornings later, Naruto faking his gagging noises, them being put on a team, meeting Kakashi, going through introductions, taking the test, then Naruto dragging Sasuke to Ichiraku to celebrate after Kakashi left and Sakura went home. This scene was so familiar to him he didn't need to do much to recall details before he saw them. Naruto turned, knowing he was there and flashed him a bright smile, younger Sasuke turning to look where Naruto was, only to see nothing there. "Tch. Dobe," the younger Sasuke said, Naruto getting mad for a few seconds before continuing the previous conversation. Then, suddenly, he was on the bridge in Wirlpool country, his younger self in a near-death state in Naruto's arms, both covered in senbon. Then Naruto unlocking the seal for the very first time, red chakra swirling around him, eyes turning red, wisker marks getting deeper, canines lengthening to fangs, body crouching to a more animalistic pose, then the subsequent battle that he had never witnessed. He was shocked how much his death had affected the young Naruto, and he realized even more how much of a fool he'd been.
That's right
And pray
A year later. The time he left. He stood next to Naruto, who was sitting on top of the wall next to the door of Konohagakure, watching his younger self walk out the door from high above. Naruto had a blank look on his face, then looked up at the older Sasuke and his eyes softened, knowing he would eventually come back. But that was when Sasuke realized he was crying, hard, and Naruto comforted him. Once the sobbing stopped, Sasuke looked at the young Naruto and said, as he was fading away, "You will come after me right? Promise?" Naruto nodded and smiled as a tear ran down his own cheek. Sasuke disappeared.
And if you're goin' my way
Don't think that I'll bend
'Cause this is where I'll stay
I think it's the end
Sasuke saw glimpses of the times that the two were together since then. The fight, then two years later at Orochimaru's lair, then just before he killed Itachi, then once when he was with Akatsuki, finally once when he was on the run. It was now four years after he had left, the two were 17, and Naruto finally brought Sasuke home. Flashes of the time they had together came quickly now, until finally he returned to the present, at age 18, ten years since they first met, and here Sasuke was sitting alone in the Uchiha estate, contemplating leaving again, then simply following his thoughts.
Ten days have come and gone
Ten days and I'm all alone
And all that I can do is
Pray and pray
Now he stood in a hotel room in a small village in Lightning Country, and he realized that all this time he had been dilly-dallying and all he needed was Naruto, the real Naruto, not the mask everyone saw. And so he left for Konoha once more, and within three days, he stood at the Konoha gates once more. He walked in, told the Chuunin at the booth to inform Tsunade of his return and to tell Naruto he was in 'the place you cried for me', then proceeded to disappear to the top of the wall next to the gate in a swirl of leaves.
Ten days I've seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day
But all I've gotta do is
Pray and pray
When Naruto finally appeared where Sasuke was, Sasuke did something that would surprise anyone else. He bowed in apology, on his knees, hands in front of him, forehead to the surface of the wall. "I'm so sorry Naruto. I needed a few days to think, and I have. You probably know exactly what I did, as well." Sasuke lifted his head to look at Naruto, whose face was carefully blank, "I want to spend the rest of my life and more with you, the real you. Will you accept?" Sasuke was pleading with his eyes, then Naruto nearly broke down to tears, glomping Sasuke with all his might.
"Of course Sasuke. I would love to spend the rest of my life and more with you...and only you." Sasuke hugged Naruto back, pulling apart after a few minutes. They looked over the village, and as Sasuke looked at all the faces of Naruto's friends...their friends, he realized that of all the leaves in Konoha, Naruto was the only one that could drop to the very bottom just to pick the rest back up.
Ten days have come and gone
Ten days and I'm not alone
And all I have to do is
Pray and Pray
Ten days if there's no rain
Comin' down on a sunny day
And all I've gotta do is
Pray and pray
And pray
(Ten days)
