Prayers to the Broken Stone

By Broken Flavors

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warning: This one-shot contains spoilers for recent manga chapters up to 448.

"But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation -- or, whether we choose to become stronger through this entire struggle -- to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe we are in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation." –Billy Graham

It was the blackest of nights for the survivors of Pein's attack of Konoha. The six man invasion had only lasted for less than twenty four hours, yet the devastation that remained was far more than any had ever seen before. Every building of the once renowned Hidden Village of the Leaf had been reduced to rubble, giving the rather large plot of land the appearance of a large forest clearing-turned landfill. The only indication that Konohagakure had even existed was a large mountain that stood as a beacon amongst the rubble. What was once a monument of the five Hokages that had given their lives for their beloved village was now reduced to a mere symbol of all that had been lost.

Situated at the base of Hokage Mountain were various tents and temporary shelters set up by the Hidden Leaf Disaster Response division of the ANBU, who had immediately set to work after the defeat of Pein's sixth body. The camp was lit by many low powered lanterns, which casted an ominous shadow over the hundreds of citizens and shinobi alike who currently mingled together, offering each other support through the tough time they were all experiencing. Morale was unsurprisingly low, and the village nins were trying to keep the citizens optimistic, despite their own feelings of dread. The only bright inspiration of hope in this darkness they were facing also happened to be missing at the moment.

If one had stopped to think for a few seconds, they would have immediately deduced where this young man was; yet he was on the back of their minds, and he knew it. That was the reason why Naruto Uzumaki sat upon the carving of the Yondaime Hokage. He knew he was the reason for the victory against Pein and Konan, but he was also a large part of the destruction of his precious village and the death of many of its people. Akatsuki was after his head, after all.

…The seal is set so that if eight tails are released, I'll appear in your consciousness…

As much as Naruto regretted his loss of control and emotional breakdown during the battle against the various god realms, he wouldn't have changed a thing. Nobody had been hurt by his demonic rampage; save for a few hundred square feet of forest, and that was the best he could had hoped for. When he had found out about the way he hurt Sakura during his first mission under Yamato's tutelage, he was devastated. The blonde could only imagine how he would feel if any other shinobi, or citizen, had been injured due to his lack of restraint. Hell, that would've only proved their constant accusations true. But Naruto knew he wasn't a monster.

…I never wanted to see you again… nine tails…

No, he wouldn't have given up that experience, although it did cause a question to plague his mind. Had he let Minato Namikaze down? Taking part in the destruction of Konoha was a hell of a way to repay the Yondaime Hokage's sacrifice. But he had done what he had to do in order to ensure Konohagakure's future. The Jinchuuriki would much rather see the Hidden Leaf village in utter chaos though alive, than completely lifeless. Regardless, the ruins of the once great shinobi village were hard to look at, but as long as none of the many sacrifices were in vain, Naruto felt happy; at least as happy as was possible in the current situation. A barely audible crunch of a foot hitting a leaf brought him out of his musings.

"Shouldn't you be in the medic tent?" he asked softly as a tall figure took a seat next to him.

"Shouldn't you?" Kakashi asked neutrally, not betraying any emotion in his voice or facial expression. Of course, it was always tough to read someone's mood by only one eye.

"True. But I'm a bit more durable," the blonde countered and forced a small smile on his face. His sensei had almost been lost today. If not for Tsunade… Naruto quickly ended that train of thought and returned his full attention to his teacher. "The fact that you're conscious, let alone walking around, is a wonder to behold."

"Hey, I may be growing older but my recovery rate is in its prime. Although I do have to wonder how you're holding up; you did experience a lot in the past few weeks."

…I looked forward to seeing how my son had grown…

He grimaced as the Yondaime's voice reverberated throughout his head. "You don't even know the half of it…"

Kakashi was studying his student carefully. It was hard to stay conscious through the haze of pain he was experiencing at the moment, but Naruto's well-being was more than enough motivation to sneak away from Sakura and past the few ANBU guarding the perimeter of the camp.

"Want to talk about it?" he mentioned after a brief period of silence. He had to remember that Naruto wasn't one to pass the burden of his pain on to others; no, he'd rather carry burdens of others for them instead.

"You heard about my loss of control, right?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "The fact that you were able to overcome the Kyuubi's influence despite the circumstances is quite amazing."

Naruto shook his head. "I didn't do it alone. I had a bit of help from the Yondaime."

The Jounin stared at his student in shock. "T-the Yondaime? How? Is that even possible?" His tongue felt like lead and Naruto laughed as the jumbled words fell out of his mouth.

"My father was a master of seals, after all. It only makes sense that he added a… fail safe of sorts to the mix." The two broke into another period of silence as both pondered that statement.

…'Cause I gave you your name of course! You're my heir, after all…

Dad. What a foreign concept. Naruto had grown up without anyone, or anything. He was an orphan who had been verbally abused by any person above the age of eighteen for most of his young life and had only owned an orange jumpsuit and a measly pair of goggles. He had no familiarity with the concept of family, although the blonde did imagine that Iruka was almost like an older brother at times and Sarutobi a caring grandfather. He had asked the old man a few times about the Uzumaki clan and any other relatives of his, but the Sandaime had just changed the subject as subtly as possible. Eventually Naruto just stopped asking.

Of course, he was aware of the physical similarities between himself and the Yondaime. He wasn't a complete idiot after all. And the fact that Jiraiya was so keen on teaching him all of the fourth's old tricks was a bit suspicious. But the Jinchuuriki had just chalked it up as coincidence. For all he knew, maybe the blond hair and blues eyes were some sort of bizarre unforeseen side effect of Minato's sealing technique.

… You're my son…

Thinking back, Naruto realized he should have asked many questions before his father had fixed the seal. Like, what happened to his mother? Who was she? And how the hell did he perform the Hiraishin? Cause damn it, the Rasengan was cool but nothing compared to the Yellow Flash's most famous technique. Again, his thoughts were broken by the injured man next to him.

"Well, I guess that isn't far-fetched enough to be totally unbelievably, especially after I had a camp fire confessional with my deceased father while on my deathbed." Naruto raised an eyebrow and Kakashi only shook his head. "Never mind… it's a long story."

…I guess the Third didn't tell you anything. He probably wanted to keep everything about the fox a secret…

"So what exactly happened?

Naruto's lips lifted into a small smile. "He had the fox just about whipped. I… I almost pulled the seal off of the Kyuubi's cage." He frowned and looked down into his lap, while fiddling with his hands. Naruto chose to ignore Kakashi's sharp look and continued. "I wasn't thinking. I thought Hinata had just been killed in front of me, Konoha had been completely leveled by Pein, Pa toad had just sacrificed his life, I didn't have any natural energy left, and, well, the list goes on and on. I mean, Kakashi, you were just about dead. And right after I had lost Jiraiya… My mind was in a weakened state, and the fox took advantage of that.

"The Yondaime stopped me. Bantered a bit with the big fur ball and then took me to a different area of my mind, where he told me about him, why he sealed a demon inside of me, and we had a small philosophical discussion about peace and pain. All in all, a very interesting talk." The blonde sighed and finally raised his eyes to lock gazes with Kakashi.

…Maybe as long as the ninja system exists, there can be no peace or order…

The Copy Nin reached over and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "No one blames you for any of this, you know that right? Konoha has been attacked for lesser reasons, and we're all willing to fight for the safety of one of our own." Kakashi watched the flicker of emotion through his student's calm cerulean orbs.

"I know that," he answered in a tone that did absolutely nothing to ease the Sharingan wielder's mind.

"Then why aren't you down with the rest of our village?"

"Do you really think that they want to see my face right now, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto held up his hand to stop the nin's protests before continuing. "I've never blamed them, you know, for the way that they've treated me all these years. I mean, sure, I hate it and I wish they didn't see me as a demon, but it goes deeper than that.

"My face is a reminder of a dark time. They look at me, and see death and destruction. They're instantly reminded of those they lost, and that pain fills their hearts. They get angry as the memories return, so it's only logical that they have a release; which just so happens to be me.

"They're not thinking of my right now Kakashi, because it's too painful. The Akatsuki came here for me and because of that, this destruction occurred. Tsunade and many others, lost their lives, and I don't expect any survivors to want to see the face of a fox right now. They're trying to forget, if even just to keep their dreams nightmare-free, and I wouldn't help them in any way."

…As long as love exists there will be hatred…

"So what are you going to do, camp out up here all night?" Kakashi was at a loss of words. Konoha's Number 1 most unpredictable ninja had stumped him. Really, how do you respond to that type of monologue?

"I don't think I can sleep anyways. I have a few shadow clones keeping watch over our perimeter, so I'll just stay here and think. If trouble happens, I'll be the first to react and keep the survivors safe while they relax."

"You shouldn't have to do this. You should be down there, relaxing and being worshipped as a hero."

"I know."

"Tsunade gave her life to revive me, don't forget that. I don't want you blaming yourself for her death."

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. Yes, he knew that. With Shizune and Jiraiya dead, and Kakashi in limbo, Tsunade had decided that enough of her ties to this Earth had been severed, thus she did a life transfer Jutsus. When Chiyo had revived Gaara after the extraction ritual, Kakashi's sharingan had been active. Although the technique was impossible to recreate exactly, the information gleamed from the experience had allowed Tsunade to form a Jutsu of her own, but there was no change in the consequence of that action.

"God. It hurts to think right now." The blonde knew he wasn't to blame. But Tsunade was the closet thing to a parental figure that he had ever had, and he hated to think of her cold body down in one of those tents.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I really am."

The Jinchuuriki knew that his sensei was sincere, but there was nothing he could do to help ease the pain. "I sent Gamakichi to tell the Kazekage about the Akatsuki attack. Gaara should be sending help, who will probably be arriving within the next three days," Naruto said, seeking a topic change.

"What do you propose we do until then?"

"All able citizens should help shift through the rubble. We should begin to clear it away and see what's salvageable. We should also take inventory of our supplies and make a list of our injured, missing, dead, etcetera."

Kakashi was impressed by the amount of maturity his student was exhibiting. He had changed a lot in the past four years; it was almost as if he were talking to Minato again.

"You should probably be getting back. You don't want Sakura to find that you're missing." Both shinobi shuddered at the thought of the pain that Sakura would inflict on the Copy Nin.

"Good night Naruto," Kakashi yawned as he got up and stretched his stiff limbs. He had been conversing with his student for much longer than expected. "Be sure to get some sleep and nourishment. I might be smart to get a check up too…"

Naruto shoo-ed away his sensei and sighed as again, he was left only in the company of the monument.

Dad… I promise. Konoha will be rebuilt, I will become Hokage, and I will follow Jiraiya's beliefs. The world will know peace.

Swept up in the sweet embrace of his past and thoughts of the future, Naruto endured the night in peace and waited for the sun to rise, for in the morning, hard work would begin, and his campaign to rid the world of pain would begin.

Author's Note: This is currently not edited. I'm sorry for any mistakes in this one-shot. Once I have the time, I'll go back and proof read, then upload the edits.

Until then, please review and tell me what you think of this. I appreciate any feedback. I really do hope you enjoyed this one shot.