White Akatsuki - chapter 1: Cyclical
For the most part, Konoha was experiencing a rare quiet day. Market stalls had closed early and the usually bustling streets were calm with barely a single sandal to churn up the dirt.
However one place was the most silent of them all. A large field of graves spread like patchwork across the ground, all fresh and still bare of grass. Mourners stood slumped nearby, shovels offset like props in a stage scene. Regardless of clan or affiliation they were keeping watch, united in their sorrow.
Konoha was grieving.
Tsunade had seen this scene too many times to count now. The acrid stench of sweat mixing with newly upturned earth, the sun's blinding rays casting only stark flat light across the day. She knew this was both an ending and a beginning, the end of a struggle but the start of the healing.
With one last glance at the graves Tsunade moved away from the burial grounds, making her way slowly through the empty streets. It was eerie she supposed to see such busy streets dead, perhaps the city itself was in mourning, with so many of its residents now gone. But as always she walked on, steeling her heart in a coffin of responsibility, for now was not the time for her to grieve. She had to work, to help stitch the village and its people back together. After all, Konoha's enemies wouldn't respect the time for mourning, so neither could she.
It startled Tsunade to notice she'd walked all the way to the main gate of the village. The large doors were absent and the sentinel box missing its lazy inhabitants. She met eyes with the only person she'd seen on her walk, Naruto.
"It all feels so real now oba-chan doesn't it." He joked mirthlessly, "you don't remember at the time how much it's all going to change." He looked away from her, frowning heavily.
Tsunade sighed and walked forwards to rest a hand on his shoulder,
"It's always frightening to see the aftermath of battle, Naruto. But life will continue and before you know it will have returned to normal again."
An odd expression entered Naruto's face as he leaned away from her touch,
"like a cycle…" he said looking down, mouth lifting into a mocking semblance of its usual sunny smile.
"I suppose you could look at it in that way brat, we're hardy creatures us konohonians!" she crowed and ruffled his hair. Grinning at him Tsunade slapped him on the back making him stumble and look up at her,
"come' on kiddo, its not just about the lives you end in battle. Its those you save."
Naruto seemed to consider her statement before shaking his head and plastering on a grin,
"heh! I suppose you're right oba-chan!" glancing at her slyly he crowed, "makes sense you'd know since you're so old!"
A vein tensed in Tsunade's neck and she emitted a low growl,
"start running brat." She rasped, flexing her arms. Luckily for Naruto's sake he ran off just as she swiped at him, missing by inches.
Tsunade huffed loudly watching the blonde ran off, she'd be the last to admit it but she was fond of the brat. She knew he held Konoha in his heart, and even through all the chaos of the last few days, he'd persevered. It was almost painful how much he was reminding her of Minato recently, but that hard-headedness? That was all Kushina.
That night was hard on everyone, the first moments people had to truly rest and take in the changes. Naruto lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He didn't know how to express the maelstrom of emotions inside: sadness, exhaustion and anger all pounded through his head fighting to be the most prominent.
A sharp cold shot through his stomach as he lay there and he began to shake. Fear crept through his bones and whispered sweet temptations in his ears.
Fear of dying. Fear of the future. Fear for Sasuke and Sakura. Fear of the fights to come.
Naruto had faced a lot of adversity in his short life, after all, growing up the village pariah will scar a mind in the harshest of ways. But he had overthrown those dark thoughts and impulses, pushed the fear out of his mind and been only determined to prove them wrong. But this was different. The battle three days ago and the days since had shown him aspects of people he thought he knew well. His carefully grown place in team seven had been roughly ripped to pieces with the disappearance of Sasuke.
His team was broken. Sakura was listless, floating from place to place like a ghost. Not even her old rivalry with Ino could shake he out of her funk. To make things worse Kakashi was no-where to be found. Tsunade had said he was simply mourning in his own way, but Naruto knew he was hiding, pretending nothing had changed.
Naruto whimpered lowly, yet again he'd been abandoned in the cold by the people he had depended on. Sasuke was his brother in arms, his teammate whom he could trust with his life, but he'd run away for nothing but power. Old man hokage had left him behind to deal with the chaos on his own. Jiraiya his mentor, missing at a time when he was needed the most. They'd all dropped Naruto like an unwanted burden. Just like people had all throughout his life.
Waves of terror crashed into Naruto's soul blurring the real world with illusions. Images of the past and future overlapped as Naruto curled into a small quivering ball. Blood ran down his arms as he clutched them, oblivious to the nails tearing through his skin as he hugged his limbs as tightly to his body as possible as if fearing that they too would leave him. He couldn't breathe, its was all of a sudden too hot but freezing, the ceiling seemed to spin into a bottomless vortex before his eyes.
But then it all stopped.
Clarity reigned in Naruto's mind as he unfurled and sat up. A soft smile crept onto his face. Still oblivious to his wounds he stood and strode across his apartment gathering objects as he went. Perhaps if he left first it would break the cycle. They couldn't leave him if he left first after all.
Haaa I literally cannot believe how hastily written all my stories are… because I still like the plots (yes I have them all written down -_-') I'm going to attempt to improve them. Hopefully even though Naruto as a series has finished the fandom still lives on!