Death of Konoha: The Aftermath

Chapter 1: The Will of Fire Extinguished

Hell.

There was no other fitting description for the carnage he saw laying around him.

The carnage that had once been his home. His life. His world.

That was the only way to describe the smoldering ruins of the once proud and powerful village of Konohagakure. Bodies were strewn about everywhere, most of them unrecognizable. For miles in every direction, the stench of death and permeated in the air, making it foul to breathe. Smoke rising from what were once intricate and beautiful buildings blocked out the sun, turning a once bright and sunny day to nightfall.

And yet, through the burning hell that Konohagakure had devolved into, and the bloodbath of the past few days of combat, two men remained. One was dressed in an oversized white shirt with his chest exposed, along with black pants held up by a giant purple rope that identified the man as an elite ninja of Otogakure. He had somewhat long black hair, with blood red eyes glaring intensely at the other surviving induvidual. The other had normally bright blond hair, although it was now matted with dirt and blood and coated in the stench of death, and was dressed in a slightly modified version of Konoha's Jounin outfit with a flowing cloak blowing behind him. The outfit was stylistically exactly the same as aforementioned Jounin outfit; only, the normally dark-blue shirt/pants combo was in fact black with his trademark orange pants from past outfits he wore. The cloak behind the man was very much the same style as his father, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage once wore, only it was red, to honor his late sensei Jiraya, the previous Toad Sage, with black flames dancing along the bottom to honor his father. The blond was staring, infuriated, at the man in white with his cerulean eyes with streaks of red mixed in as Naruto drew more chakra from the Kyuubi for what was likely is last attack.

The red-eyed man began to cackle manically. "Kukuku... It seems as though we're the only ones left... Ne, Naruto-kun?"

This only infuriated the blond further, causing him to growl animalistically. "Shut it, you snake-teme! How could you do this, you sadistic bastard!? You destroyed Konoha, my home…my friends…my family. Even if it takes my last breath to do it, I shall avenge my village and remove you from this world!"

"The come at me, and let's end this once and for all…dobe."

'Dobe. Saskue used to call me that. How dare he use Sasuke's memories against me!!!' With all the anger he could muster, Naruto charged at Orochimaru, with a giant Rasengan forming in each of his hands. Orochimaru merely laughed at the enraged blond, and raised his arm. Gathering lightning-natured chakra into his hand, he shaped it into a spear, and hurled it at the Hokage with a mighty cry of "Chidori Eisou!"

The lightning spear collided with the Rasengan-wielding Jinchuuriki, causing him to disappear in a burst of smoke. 'What!? Kage Bunshin!?,' was all that Orochimaru was able to think before he heard a loud screeching sound from behind him, getting louder by the second. Turning around, he was only able to see what hit him before it sliced him in half and exploded into a sphere of miniscule wind-element chakra needles that attacked each and every cell in his body. Naruto's ultimate attack had connected. An attack that even his father had been unable to complete – Fuuton: Rasenshuriken (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken).

With his life rapidly leaving his body, Orochimaru could only ask himself 'How?' As the jutsu wound down and he began falling towards the massive crater caused by the technique, the fading voice of the lost Uchiha he had possessed echoed through his mind, "It's because he's Naruto Uzumaki. Konoha's Number One Loudest, Unpredictable, Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja. Never forget it." Landing in the crater with a resounding thud, his life came to an end. With his nemesis dispatched from this world, bound for hell, Naruto instinctively began to stagger over to his fallen friends, hoping against hope to find at least one of them still among the living, but with both his energy fading on him at an alarming rate, he quickly sank to his knees. Then it finally started to sink in. They really were gone. All of them.

'What do I do now? The village is gone. Everyone's dead. Tsunade-baachan, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji, Ino, Shino, Hinata-chan, even Sakura-chan, … Sakura-chan…' Tears began to pour from his eyes as he thought of his beloved pink haired kunoichi, who finally confessed her true feelings to him as she laid dying in his arms hours earlier. She had thrown herself into the path of a Chidori spear Orochimaru had thrown at her love moments before, saving his life at the cost of hers. Just then, a familiar voice echoed inside his head, the voice that had caused him so much frustration over the years, but had become a voice of reason and wisdom in recent days, the Kyuubi.

'Get a hold of yourself, kit. You still have a job to do.'

'What job!?! The village is dead! All the villagers are dead! All my friends are dead! Even Sakura-chan … Sakura-chan … even Sakura-chan is dead! What the hell am I supposed to do now, you stupid fox!?!'

'First off, stop shouting at me. That won't bring your friends back and it won't do you any good in the long run. Second, someone needs to let the Daimyo know what has happened here. No one else is left, so it has to be you.'

'…damn it, why do you always have to be right?'

'With age comes wisdom, kit, and I've got plenty of both. Now get your ass up and get moving.'

'Yeah, yeah. I'm going, furball.' Naruto struggled to his feet, trying to prepare for the long journey ahead of him. He made it two steps before his body finally gave out on him, collapsing to the ground. Before he slipped off into unconsciousness he swore he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. But not Kyuubi's. 'Who was that?' he thought as he drifted away. A second or two later, the person the voice belonged to reached him.

"Naruto! Thank Kami we found you! Medic!" the person called out to one of his people nearby, "This one's still alive! Get over here and help me with him!" He turned back to the fading Hokage and tried to comfort him, "You're gonna be alright, Naruto, we're gonna get you out of here. Stay with me here man. Naruto? Naruto!?! MEDIC!!!"

Well, there we have it. Before anyone gets the chance to flame me for plagiarism or tries to get me in trouble, Just want to say that a good deal of this chapter was borrowed, with permission, from the prologue for the story, "Second Chances", a fanfic written and posted on this site by Siekin.

Now that that has been said, on to the previews! Naruto reaches the Daimyo, and an emergency is declared! (big shock, right?) Stay tuned for the next chapter: "SS Class Emergency: Summon the Kages!"

p.s. – I have a few ideas on where I want the story to go, but I'm also open to any ideas you, the fans, might have and want to pass on. Just leave a review for me, and I'll see what I can come up with. I am also trying to find a good pairing for Naruto. If y'all have any suggestions, pass them along. Just keep in mind, all the Leaf kunoichi are dead, so they won't work. Also, and I can't stress this enough, NO YAOI!!! That's just sick!