When I step past my door frame, I get dizzy,because it's the border to my comfort zone. I feel the suffocating emotions leave in a haste as I come to the place I call home.
He could feel the drain on his reserves, completing that Jutsu had taken a lot out of him, even more so out of Kurama who now lay within the seal gathering what remaining chakra he had left.
The fourth shinobi war had razed the village to the ground. The bloody, broken remains of what remained of the Leaf's shinobi expanded over a mass of rubble. The pungent smell of blood, lingered in the air, sticking to his clothing and ingraining itself into his memory. To his left was Shikamaru Nara, his chief strategist, and the only living being left under his command.
Naruto Uzumaki, the kyuubi jinchuuriki and Rokudaime Hokage was dying, and he knew it. The sky thundered, rain poured as the heavens seemed to cry in agony.
"It was an honour to serve under your command Hokage-Sama."
His eyes welled with tears.
"Shikamaru... thank you" A choked sob escaped his lips, unable to comprehend that it was truly over, everything that he had fought for, the days that he had suffered, taking every hit and blow in a path to become stronger for his precious people, gone in a blink of an eye.
It was well known that a single death could affect an entire platoon of soldiers. When Tsunade fell, a domino affect had set into play, other kages faltered before attacking, fear spreading through their veins like cancer, anxiety causing a madness they couldn't escape from. But they payed for their fear with their lives. Akatsuki's attacks had been relentless, jutsus relentlessly tore down the hidden villages, the opposition leaving destruction and chaos behind.
He could feel his breathing slowing down, the tightness of his chest enhancing the pain from the wounds littered on his body, regardless if him being an Uzumaki blessed with healing factors and an extraordinary life force even he could not cheat death.
From the monsters of history it was known that humans did not respond well to death counts, especially if they were to high to comprehend. One death can immobilise a nation, thousands of death leaving a lasting impression, to be used for good or bad intentions. Konoha lost their will to live , their Will of Fire had diminished, leaving only a small flickering flame.
But he would never regret for a second the sacrifices that he had made. Would never taint the memory of the shinobi who had layed their lives down for him, to protect him. He would miss the chatter of children as they raced down the streets,the kings of Konoha, he would miss his friends, their beautiful smiles a ray of light whenever his found himself clueless of how he should move on but especially he would miss the warmth that they radiated.
"How pathetic! I wont after all this time be disgraced like this, you wont die Uzumaki, you'll go back and keep the promise you made me." Kurama growled from inside his and Naruto's shared mind space.
"How can you feel compassion for me now Kurama? There's nothing left if you wish for me to take the seal off then so be it," a sharp pain grasped his neck sending him into a coughing fit, yet he continued,"I stand by my words, I will not deny you your freedom."
"The useless emotions that dirty my heart
are covered with dust, but you are the first to show me the understanding that each of my vessels have lacked, and so I will present to you a Jutsu which will enable you to stop this mayhem from happening"
He couldn't help the curiosity that had arose, he knew very well what the fox was talking about, but knew the dangers. Messing with the laws of space-time ninjutsu was dangerous, the ways that it could affect the universe was endless, but he was desperate. He mulled the idea over in his head before inquiring the opinion of Nara genius.
"I... it's a Jutsu from a demon created my the Sage of Six Paths, it must warrant some safety... it also seems to be are only choice left."
That it was.
"Do it." He told Kurama.
Chakra exploded ruining the landscape, pain filled screams filled the air only to disappear, leaving behind a desolate wasteland behind.
A cough shuddered through his body. Blood stained hands gripped his abdomen in agony, a kunai lay lodged between his ribs, a fierce attack he had not been able to deflect. Naruto wondered if this was how he would die, hopeless amongst the wreckage of a battle long lost,from when they had first been targeted. A humourless chuckle escaped his throat, everything had seemed worthless, all the agonising days he spent striving for their acceptance only to be thrown into a war in which he unprepared for the demons he would face. Something akin to mirth flashed in his eyes. Demons. For years he had been tormented by Kurama's presence, only for the fox to become his only living ally.
Ice blue eyes slowly opened, white fluffy clouds painted on a cerulean sky greeted him. His breath hitched, they were back. A feeling of immense joy rushed through him, he could make it all better, he could save all of them of the fate that awaited them.
But firstly, he had to wake up the lazy Nara beside him.
"Shika!" The hyper blonde bounced over to his friend, "You lazy ass Nara get up, the jutsu worked!"
A groan left his lips as Shikamaru sat up, eyes peering over at Naruto in his orange jumpsuit and adjusted to his now chibi body.
He sat in utter bewilderment, how had they managed such a feat? It went against the laws of nature, he hadn't expected it to work, he anticipated death, one that he had so badly craved.
A vibrant smile maid its way onto Naruto's face, "Yup it did!" As happy as they were, the now had to think logically, they had no clue as to whether or not their abilities had returned with them, and if they had, how would they hide then from their teammates? Their chakra signatures were still the same, but this would create problems, their jonin sensei's were very observant.
"Judging by that, and the fact that are control has stayed so have our abilities, although our muscle memory has gone meaning that we will have to train."
The Nara's assessment was quick and thorough, urgency in his they needed to get out of the training grounds lest the anbu patrols find them. Looking at their appearance, they were lacking their forehead protectors meaning that they had not yet graduated, as an active shinobi they had rarely taken them off as they had no reason to.
It was getting dark, they had to leave.
Upon entering the main roads, their paths diverged, with Naruto's taking him eastwards, home to the red light district and Shikamaru's taking him West towards the clan compounds.
With a short farewell they made their ways, a look of exhaustion painting their features.
Blue eyes fluttered open, the cracks spreading across his room ceiling greeting him. Sunlight shone through his small window, the only source of heat in the bare house. Last night had been restless, he had tossed and turn in his bed hoping to sleep only to be plauged with memories assaulting him from every corner of his mind.
If i get out of here, there is death
because more then the familiar sadness
I dislike unfamiliar hapiness, I threw away my footsteps, I worry that I will become a pair of worn shoes
Every time his eyes closed, the sight of mangles bodies tortured him. The dark black oblivion had been replaced with crimson blood, the sound of anguished screams echoing in his ears.
A lone sigh escaped his mouth as he approached the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once ready, he began a slow walk towards the academy, anxiety flooding his veins with every step.
He was late, the slow pace of his walk had ensured so, but even with the stalling, he found himself unprepared as the academies doors loomed into view.
He wasn't prepared, wasn't ready to see the team he had fought with side by side as children, naive children unaware of the danger that lay ahead in their shinobi career.
He wanted to keep his love safe and would do anything to keep them safe. He tried to forget how everything around him everything became tainted, unlike Tsunade he didn't need a cursed neckless, his mere presence was enough. Now with his second chance he had to been braver and with a deep breath he steel his nerves and swung the door open, a fake grip on his face and his eyes shut tight.
"GUESS WHO GRADUATED, THE FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA BELIEVE IT."
Snickers erupted around him, some sneering at the thought it him graduating, believing that he had stole the forehead protected as they had seen him fail the exam the day before. "Maa Naruto don't be so troublesome, get out of my way" Sticking his tongue out at the lazy preteen, he made his way to the row of desks.
Oh yeah.
Don't sit next to Sasuke,he remembered, there was no need to have a repeat of that incident.
" EVERYONE SIT DOWN! I'm going to announce your teams, pay attention as I wont repeat myself."
Iruka's voice echoed in the classroom causing conversations came to an abrupt halt, students eager to find out their teams. Naruto however had let his attention drift, more than half the teams wouldn't make it, most would drop out of them program all together. He did not feel the need to listen to something that was not relevant to him.
"...team 7 Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." A loud screech caught his attention, he noticed Ino protesting about Sakura being placed with Sasuke, causing him to sigh once more. For the Yamanaka it should have been expected, that tradition would be followed and she would be placed with and Akimichi along with a Nara. But peace had lead to the villages slacking genins graduated older and less prepared for warfare , with delusions set in place and an attitude that would get them killed.
Because the world, the time that they had left, was now against them. Unbeknownst to them, their was a field of predators waiting to attack their prey, to tear their aspirations to shreds and introduce them to the cruel harsh world of being a ninja.
His heart hurt, as he remembered, Sakura body left mutilated by Obito's hand, Choji unable to breath due to over working his body, Ino dying at the hands of Kabuto.His breathing was speeding up, he needed to get his thoughts under control. Looking up he realised amidst his break down everyone had left the classroom leaving team 7 behind.
He watched as Sasuke sat alone in the corner isolating himself, ignoring Sakura who was eagerly trying to start a conversation. He tried to reign in the hate that had latched onto him as he lay his eyes on the avenger, the foolish arrogance he had would lead to his death and many others.
Many had hoped that when Itachi had died Sasuke would return to the village having fulfilled his goal, but no he had run of with a group of missing nin, attempting to destroy Konoha. But his efforts where fruitless, his old comrades had long turned their backs on him and had attacked mercilessly, watching gleefully as he bled out.
As the time passed at a torturing pace he came to a conclusion that he would not prank Kakashi this time round, it would do no good for his headache to have His female team mate scream at him and present his sensei with a bad impression. Distantly he wondered, if Naruto had been more skilled would Kakashi have tried harder? Would he have been less inclined to disregard him? He shook his head of the thoughts , it would not do him any good to feel bitter about events that now no longer happened, he would not tarnish the image of the admirable sensei who had died saving him.
But he felt as if someone had gripped his neck tight cutting of his air flow when Kakashi stepped into the room, one eye curved into an eye smile, causing emotions he had tried to repress came spilling out like a tidal wave.
"Maa my first impression of you, is that you all seem disappointing."
The silver haired jonin made his way into the room, eyes examining the graduates in front of him. The last Uchiha stood with an arrogant look on his assessing him, before ultimately dismissing him.
Fool.
"Why don't we make our way to the roof and get to know each other?"
The genin slowly filed out of the room, Naruto contemplated walking up the wall to make things easier, but shook his head, it wouldn't do anyone good if Kakashi became suspicious.
The three sat down on the staircase, Sakura in the middle with Naruto to her left, and Sasuke to her right.
"Sensei... why don't you go first? So we know what to say?"
"Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have few likes and dislikes, and I have no intention of telling you my dreams, now pinky why don't you start."
Sakura glared at the nickname but continued regardless, " I'm Sakura Haruno! I like Sasuke, I hate Ino and Naruto and ummm I don't know what my dreams are yet."
Naruto hoped he had been able to keep the disappointment off of his face. His pink haired teammate had been better company when she had grown. Training with Tsunade had caused her skills to flourish and had successfully broken her out of her fangirl ways, it was a pity that she was back to this reduced state.
Meanwhile Kakashi sighed, the standards of genin where decreasing everyday, it seemed as if kunoichis were less focused on becoming capable shinobi and more intent on finding the perfect 'husband'
"Maa ok then, broody why don't you go next?"
Mirroring his teammates previous expression Sasuke replied, " I am Sasuke Uchiha, I have littles likes and dislikes, my dream... no ambition is to kill a certain man."
Naruto sighed, an ambition that would get him killed, Sasuke had been blinded by a lust for power and was deemed a hopeless case. Giving up on him was one of the hardest things that he done, but his lifestyle hadn't allowed him to mope for long, reluctantly he had moved on.
"Well then, lastly we have sunshine!"
Smiling brightly at the same, Naruto being his introduction.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ramen and Iruka sensei, I dislike people who hurt their precious people and my dream is to protect the people that I love by being Hokage!"
Kakashi gave him a final eye smile before explaining their test, which in turn had caused Sakura to shriek and Sasuke to gain a look of annoyance. He himself pretended to pale although he knew what it would entail.
Changing the bell test would not amount to much so he decided to let things play out as normal, however he needed to sort out what would happen during the chuunin exams.
Taking a page out of Shikamaru's book, things would be such a drag.
Title/translation from the song Home by Tablo feat Lee Sora.
