Pain.
It's what ties ninjas together.
Sasuke's pain…losing everyone close to him, being betrayed by the only person precious to him left…seeing that day over and over and over…
Naruto's pain…being hated, scorned, for seemingly no reason at all…being unknown, unwanted, friendless…and losing his closest friend to darkness…
Sakura's pain…seeing the pain of those around her…not being able to save everyone…being rejected…being useless…
Kakashi's pain…believing he could've saved his best friend…watching him die…slipping into insanity bit by bit, watching his team fall apart…
Iruka's pain…watching his students grow, watching them get hurt…watching as some of them die…never being good enough to reach the next level…
Anko's pain…her sensei attempting to destroy all that was dear to her…seeing him again and yet not seeing anything human left…
Shikamaru's pain…losing the person he respected most…losing the person who truly matched him, who he could have long conversations with without being completely bored…
Hinata's pain…being too weak to satisfy anyone…watching as the love of her life slowly becomes more fragile…knowing that she'll never be good enough…
Neji's pain…believing the lies he was told as a child…hurting and hating one of the most important people to him…not knowing how to act anymore…
Sai's pain…never being able to really feel…never knowing true love, true hate…
Ino's pain…always being second place…loving Sasuke, but never as much as her…getting stonger but never as much as her…being incapable of hating her…
Chouji's pain…feeling insecure…seeing pain and feeling such guilt, such empathy…
Asuma's pain…loving her…loving his team…knowing that he's dying anyway, from his own stupid habit…
Lee's pain…loving someone who will never return his feelings…almost losing the only thing that keeps him going…
Tenten's pain…never being recognised…knowing that she's not the best, knowing she never will be…and hoping…
Gai's pain…wearing a mask…hiding behind 'youthfullness' when he understands the life he leads…knowing pain and death and not being able to cope…hiding behind words and false smiles…
Shino's pain…being faceless, just another person, just another name…being a genius but being oppressed by his clan…his insanely strict clan…
Kiba's pain…loving, but knowing that she's blind to all but him, despite her all-seeing eyes…suffering as he has never suffered, for the sake of someone he can't betray…
Kurenai's pain…losing him…knowing her child will grow without a father…watching his genius pupil barely hold on…
Tsunade's pain…losing her best friend…being the last of the three great nins…shouldering the weight of leading a village, but hardly knowing how…
This is what ties ninja's together. But there is something else.
Belief.
And now, that belief has been given a name. Something solid to cling to. Because he gets them through the worst.
Naruto is belief.
And now he is breaking…Sasuke must be killed…Sakura wants to do it…his team is in fragments…they're all he has, in the end…
So soon after he is recognised, he's falling back into the black of his childhood…
N/A: This is just something I typed while I was bored...tell me what you think!! Set as Naruto blacks out in Chapter 478.
