Waking
Disclaimer – C0nstantine does not own Naruto. He still is the King of Halloween Town however.
A morning is a beautiful thing to witness at the right moment.
The sun, shining through dancing leaves of almost every shade of green and brown. The clouds float lazily by the sun, kissing it and leaving as fast as they arrive. Birds of every type and size chirping to each other in a language far too beautiful to understand.
Being alive and witnessing these things is a feat to behold.
Eyes opened slowly, as blonde hair obscured blue irises. A man of twenty sat up and looked out at the land before him.
He saw the majesty of life. . .
And he threw up.
To Naruto Uzumaki, being sickened by life is nothing new.
He should have died after all.
His teammates did.
He finished wiping his mouth and leaned over, his head feeling several times too small. He reached over and picked up his favorite bottle of sake.
100 proof.
He put it to his lips and looked out at the trees, the sun, the village.
He tipped the bottle back.
He closed his eyes.
He closed his eyes on the travesty of life.
Sizzling grease, sliding across the black pan, the sausages pulling a new trail of juices behind them as they were pushed by a wooden spoon. Another pan holding two eggs, which crackled as they hit the pan. The wooden spoon pushed them together, like two lovers, and they mixed, becoming one mash of yellow and white.
White looking at yellow.
White irises looking into blonde hair. He was always handsome to her, but that hai-
Smoke.
"The sausages!"
Almost as black as the pan itself, the once proud sausages were burnt on the bottom half of their bodies. The eggs, however, were perfect. She cut the sausages into pieces and melded them into an omelet.
She covered it with pepper, salt and a small amount of hot sauce.
Mask the flavor.
Hide the burnt parts.
This was a chef's greatest tool.
Hide the mistakes with anything you can think of.
Good thing they had plenty of alcohol.
Sitting up is a hassle when you're full of alcohol.
But food was one of the few things he still got up for.
Naruto sighed and stretched, his arms swaying slightly. His muscles were smaller now, and he was skinnier; his old appetite never was the same after Ichiraku burned down. He did manage to change up his wardrobe, the orange he used to wear proudly forgotten for whites, grays and blacks.
Missions were exchanged for chopping wood, fixing various things around the house and drinking.
Catching fish, watching clouds, drinking.
Sleeping, drinking, drinking.
Drinking, drinking, drinking.
Waking up, throwing up, eating, drinking.
Naruto shook his head and stood up, walking over to the kitchen, noting a table that needed a new leg and some plants that needed replacing. As he sat down, a plate carrying what seemed to be an omelet and rice was placed in front of him. He looked up at the smiling face he had seen for close to two years.
Hinata was still just as pale as the day he met her, but she had changed in other ways. Her hair was longer, she no longer blushed bright red when he talked to her (though he rarely did), and she had grown into a beautiful young woman among other things. She had been there from the moment they left Konoha, and she refused to leave his side since.
Hinata was the one that took him to Wave and she was the only reason he was still alive.
She loved it in Wave.
The village had seen better days, but it had also seen worse. The villagers were happy and had good reason to be.
Kiri was protecting them, and they were neutral in the war.
Wave was still connected to the mainland by their 'Great Naruto Bridge', but the bridge was under heavy lock down and rigged with many exploding seals as a precaution. The houses were still very inviting, but some of the more nervous inhabitants decided on constructing fences and the like. The house Naruto and Hinata lived in was further away from the rest of the village but was next to the coast, which made it easy for Naruto to fish if food was running low.
Hinata sat down next to Naruto then started her daily list of "How are you feel today?" 's and "Is there anything you want to talk about?" 's.
"Hinata, as always, thank you for cooking breakfast today, but please. . .talking never really works out for us."
". . .and why is that?" She said, sighing as she looked down at her food.
"Because it doesn't get anywhere. I get angry or sad, you get sad or angry, one of us yells, I end up drinking any way it ends and you end up crying."
Naruto stopped eating and stood up, walking behind Hinata and wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm sorry. . .Its just. . .I'm sorry. I'll be fishing. As always. . .breakfast was good."
He might always end up leaving her alone, but as always, she loved when he held her. Even if it was only for a moment.
Black. That's all she could see. The great abyss of nothingness was right in front of her.
Light.
Hinata opened her eyes and everything was a different shade of blue or black with small areas of a pale, ghostly white. Passing out had started to become a habit of hers. With all of the working out and training gone from her life, the energy she used to have had faded as time passed. She sat up and looked around the house.
'I must have fell asleep on the couch' was her first thought.
"Naruto?" That was her second thought.
She stood up quickly and ran around the various areas of their house. It was devoid of life, save for her.
"Naruto?!" She closed her eyes and tried to remember where he had gone. Walking? No. Cutting wood? No, that was yesterday. Fishing? Fishing.
Hinata jogged out of the house and towards the edge of the ocean where Naruto was known to fish. He was swinging the fishing rod around, shouting curse words that only he could understand. He threw the fishing rod and pulled out a knife, continuing his onslaught of slashes and cuts into the air. Hinata ran over to him, yelling his name.
"Naruto!"
"Leave me alone, you bastards!"
"Naruto!" Hinata put her arm out to grab his, but he quickly pulled away and swung his knife, leaving a small trail of red on the top of her forearm.
"Just stay back!"
She winced but kept her arm out, Naruto visibly shaking. "Where are my friends?"
"Naruto, it's Hinata."
". . .Hinata, where is everyone?" He seemed to relax, his eyes glossed over.
". . .Most of them are. . .are gone." She had seen him have flashbacks, but never this bad.
Naruto closed his eyes and fell into the sand, throwing his knife to the side and started to sniff.
"Where is everyone?" he whimpered.
Hinata put her arms around his sides and held him close, Naruto weeping as he laid his head against her shoulder.
"What happened?"
Been a while. Hope you like the new story. It'll help get rid of some of the writer's block for "The Art of Forgetting" plus I like it a lot.
By the way, this story was Beta-read and Co-authored by Reader-Of-Many.
He kicks major ass.
Stick around loyal fans, we have a long ways to go.
- C0n
"So baby please kill me
Oh baby don't kill me
But don't bring that ghost round to my door
I don't wanna see him anymore
Please kill me
Oh baby don't kill me
Just don't bang on about yesterday
I wouldn't know about that anyway" Death on the Stairs, The Libertines
