The Truth about Forever

Prologue

Author's Note: Hey readers! I know it's been a long time, but here we are. My co-writer and I have decided to pick this story back up, and actually finish it. We hope you enjoy!

From the writers of Dreaming of Reality (yours truly) and Why So Serious (kyu15), we bring you The Truth about Forever!

The truth about forever is that there is no forever. No matter who you are or where life takes you, everything will eventually come to an end. Even love, who is said to survive the passage of time.

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"Forever… It's supposed to be a long time, right?" I asked Akito as we took a right turn down an alley way.

"That's what people like to think." He replied, in his smooth tone.

I went silent for a minute, gathering my thoughts as we continued on our way to the Academy.

"Do you think there is a 'forever'?" I asked as I turned my head to look at my fellow shinobi.

Akito shook his head, "No, because time's irrelevant."

My ponytail swished back and forth, like a metronome keeping the pace of my walk.

"Does that mean there isn't a forever?"

Akito sighed. "In my opinion, no. Everything has to have begun somewhere. With every beginning, there's got to be an end. 'Forever' doesn't have an end. So, in short, nothing lasts forever, because if it did, it wouldn't exist."

A smile crept onto my lips. "Your logic amuses me, Akito. I love having these kinds of conversations with you."

Akito looked at me, "Yeah? Good to know I didn't blow your mind and leave you dumbfounded. Pretty annoying when I have to stop and help someone pick their jaw up."

I held back a laugh.

"Your life must be so difficult. I can't imagine!"

If humans had subtitles, those words would be highlighted in orange and extravagantly labeled "sarcasm."

Akito caught on to this and put a hand over his heart dramatically.

"It's hard, and no one understands! It's so lonely at the top!"

We both chuckled and continued on our path to the Academy.

"Do you think Naruto will be surprised to see us? I mean, I'm sure he won't exactly be celebrating his birthday with his classmates…"

Akito shrugged in response, "I think he'll be happy to see us on a day like this. To me, that is all that really matters."

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We approached the gates and took a look around the courtyard. There were little students everywhere, chasing each other around and waiting for class to start. I saw some of the girls hovering around a dark haired little brat, fawning over him like he was the only thing within a hundred miles that had a swinging dick. I nudged Akito with my elbow, and pointed to the pack of googly-eyed girls.

"Look at those girls. Makes me want to gag! They don't care about becoming ninjas or learning to protect the village. They only want to bow down and spread their legs for boys, specifically that Uchiha punk. The Academy students are becoming worse and worse every year. Back when we were in the Academy, we all took learning seriously. Man, those were the days when GOOD ninja graduated and became genin. I doubt more than three teams will make it through selection this time around."

Some of the girls, and a couple of the surrounding boys, turned to look at me. They all had varying expressions, from embarrassment to annoyance.

"How could you say that about us? We are standing right here, you know!" A little pink-haired girl spoke up.

"First off, I am a Jonin. Senior ranking, compared to you Academy brats. Don't talk to me like I'm another one of your classmates. Secondly, you do realize that everything I just said is true? You, specifically, are one of the ones that I was referring to when I said you don't care about becoming a ninja. Take a look at yourself! You are literally drooling and daydreaming about a boy, when you should be focusing on preparing for class. It disgusts me, both as a senior ranking ninja and as a woman. Learn some self-respect and grow up, kid. If you graduate and go on to be put on a team, I really hope your sensei has the tolerance to put up with you. I know for sure that if you become my student, I'll send you straight back to the academy with no questions asked. Pray you get someone who will put up with the nonsense."

At that moment, everyone went quiet.

They had no idea that they could get sent back to the academy after graduating, and now the truth was out.

"She's right, you know," Akito began as he lazily stood beside me, "You're all acting like a bunch of snot-nosed kids. I wouldn't let any of you standing before me graduate, if I had a say in it. You need to take training seriously. Master your jutsus, train hard, and find new ways to challenge yourself. Don't drool over boys or slack off. Take it from two ninjas who graduated first and second in their class. Out in the field, you can't always come back and try again later. Take your studies seriously."

Akito was usually not one to be anal retentive towards the younger groups, but these students had become an exception. I looked from one face to the other, taking in their expressions. Maybe we had changed some of their attitudes, but I figured it wouldn't be very many of them. It was disappointing, to say the least.

Suddenly, a streak of orange and yellow blasted through the doors, rushing towards Akito and me. The blur launched itself into my arms, nearly knocking me over.

"Megumi-san! You came to see me on my birthday!"

A smile beamed from the little flash and he quickly detached himself from me to approach Akito.

"Akito-sama! You came too!"

Akito let a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth, which was a rare thing with people other than myself.

"Yeah, bud. I came to give you your birthday present."

Akito pulled out a book from the inside pocket of his cloak, the small smile on his face subtly twitching.

"Hope you put it to good use."

Naruto looked at the book with enthusiasm, "Chakra Control: Mastery of 1000 Jutsus? Awesome! I can't wait to start reading this! Thank you!"

Naruto hugged the book in excitement and put it away with an even bigger smile on his face. Now, it was my turn.

"Here you go, Naruto. I made this myself. It's a special kunai, as you can see by the color of the blade. I didn't want you to get it mixed up with your other knives. Inside, there is a vial of very deadly poison. Once you throw the kunai and it hits the intended target, the tip of the blade will set off a pressure-sensitive release mechanism and cause the vial to break. That will release the poison into the target, and your opponent will be dead within two minutes. This has a onetime use, so choose wisely."

Naruto's eyes grew wider than saucers as I handed the knife to him carefully.

"Wow… This is so cool! I never imagined you could make something this awesome!"

I grinned. I was an excellent blacksmith, if I do say so myself.

"Around dusk, meet Megumi and me on the bottom floor of your complex. We have a special surprise for you."

A questioning look crossed the young boy's face, but we didn't give away any details.

"Can I guess what it is?" Akito and I shook our heads in unison.

"No way! It's going to stay a surprise!" I replied as the blond boy scratched his head in wonder.

"We'll see you later, Naruto! Have a good day at school!"

Before Naruto could make any further protest, Akito and I were gone in a puff of smoke.

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Several Hours Later

I yanked my shuriken from the trunk of the tree and pocketed them in my back pouch.

"You still in the mood for taking Naruto to Ichiraku's?" I asked Akito as he pulled a kunai from a tree just a few feet from my right.

"Only if you are."

I nodded, "You didn't make me use that much chakra, you know. I do believe you were going easy on me."

Akito cleared his throat. "Since when do I ever not go easy on you?"

I lifted a finger at him and tempted myself to make a remark, but I held my tongue. He was right. If he didn't go easy on me, he'd probably kill me on accident. His powers were far greater than mine, but there was a special reason for that.

"You have a point."

He gave me a nod and we both finished picking up our weapons. I picked up a shuriken from behind a rock and noticed a severely bent point.

"Oh, hell. This must have happened when you made that remark about Kakashi."

Akito chuckled to himself, in spite of my constant annoyance.

"Stop laughing! We already talked about this!"

He shrugged me off and I sighed.

"I probably shouldn't let it get to me, you know. But, it can be so damn difficult sometimes-"

I heard a faint popping noise come from behind me. In a flash, I jerked my body to face our visitor with a kunai in hand.

"Hey now. I don't believe that is how you greet a friend."

That voice. Oh, that voice is the music in my dreams. It is the very thing that keeps me in one piece, the very sound that holds me together at the seams. Yet, I knew without a doubt that his voice could easily tear me apart just as fast as it could hold me together. Unfortunately, that very idea was the thing that would ravage my brain at night and keep me from my slumbers. My breath hitched in my throat, and my mouth quickly became as dry as a desert. I could feel a hand lower my kunai, and an electric current coursed through my body at an extremely rapid rate.

"Ah, Kakashi. You decided to come pay us a visit, eh? You pick the best moments to be weirdly on time."

I jerked my head away from the man in front of me to stare daggers at Akito. I felt the need to hiss words of profanity at him. He just pulled me from my fantasy, and I know he did it on purpose.

"Actually, I came to pay my respects," Kakashi said, "I didn't know anyone would still be here."

I brushed off my intense feelings and swept them under the rug, stamping them until my heart rate had returned to normal and the metaphorical rug lay flat once again.

"We were actually just about to leave. Gonna take Naruto out for his birthday, if you care to join? Iruka, Asuma, and Kurenai will be there as well," Akito asked as he put his hands in his pockets.

Kakashi thought for a minute, and it turned into a minute too long.

"Not this time. Thank you, though."

Akito shrugged, and then turned to nod in my direction.

"Alright, Megumi. Let's hurry up. Naruto is probably losing his mind counting down the seconds."

I chuckled at the thought of Naruto bouncing off the walls with impatience and curiosity. With another quick and stolen glance towards the silver-haired man of my dreams, Akito and I disappeared into thin air.