Naruto: Reincarnated

Chapter 3

"I guess we should get him home." Sasuke said as he stood up. "Lady Tsunade will want him to get cleaned up."

"I don't want to let him go." Sakura said, clinching Naruto's body tighter in her arms.

"He's not there anymore." Kurama pointed out. "his spirit will soon be with you again."

"I want him back now." Sakura said. "I want him to be able to live out his dreams."

"Sometimes that isn't meant to happen." Kurama replied. "he will have a better future now."

"Come on Sakura." Sasuke said softly. "he shouldn't be out here too much longer. If the birds have already started eating at him, I'm sure the insects have too." Sakura grimaced not liking the thought of the bugs eating her friend.

"Fine." She mumbled, releasing her grip on Naruto's body. She closed her eyes as Sasuke bent down and lifted Naruto up, one arm underneath the knees and the other underneath Naruto's neck. As Sasuke stood with him, Sakura placed Naruto's arms on his stomach so that his arms wouldn't be dangling.

"Let's get him home." Sasuke said softly knowing how hard it was on Sakura to see their friend like this. It didn't seem natural for Naruto to be so still.

"It's not fair." Sakura said. "he didn't stand a chance at really getting to live."

"I don't think life has ever been fair to Naruto." Sasuke said as he started up the hill towards the cave. Sakura sighed wondering how they would be able to make it back to Konoha without dehydrating herself from crying so much. Sakura followed behind Sasuke keeping her eyes on the ground so that she wouldn't have to see Naruto dangling in Sasuke's arms. This whole situation still didn't seem real, at least Sakura didn't want it to be real. She didn't want things to change when Kurama had said that Naruto's spirit would be coming back to them again she wondered in what form it would be. Would it be in another child or something completely different?

Placing her hand on her stomach, Sakura wished that she had told Naruto about his future niece or nephew. Sasuke's and Sakura's child would never know the wonder that was Naruto Uzumaki. He/she would grow up knowing about Naruto's legend though. There were many things that could be learned from Naruto's life.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Sakura murmured as they exited the cave to find Kakashi staring blankly at the ground.

"Did you message Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked softly.

"She will be meeting us at the gates." Kakashi answered. "I think that she knew that this end was a possibility but she didn't want to believe it."

"I think we all knew that." Sasuke said. "But none of us were actually prepared for this."

"How does one prepare for something like this?" Sakura wondered. "No matter how much you try to prepare nothing will fix the pain that we feel."

"It's not right to be leaving like this." Kakashi murmured. "Naruto should be alive and well. We should be dragging him home from his visit with Gaara."

"Nothing will ever be the same but that doesn't mean that he won't still be with us. I think he would come back to haunt us if we forget even the slightest detail." Sakura murmured wishing that they were back in Konoha already. She wasn't looking forward to this journey even if it was only a few hours away.

"He certainly wouldn't be happy with us right now, being all depressed." Sasuke said, finding it hard to look down at the bundle in his arms, he didn't want to see how lifeless his friend was. Worst of all would be telling Itachi, and that was if his brother would be able to handle the news. Sasuke really hoped that it wouldn't push Itachi closer to the grave.

"I think we should head out now, standing here won't get us any closer to Konoha." Kakashi said, but both Sasuke and Sakura knew that he wasn't in any more of a hurry to get back then they were. The small group headed towards the path that would lead them home. They would make sure that Naruto would get the honor and respect that he deserved.

For the most part the return trip was made in silence, each lost in their own memories of the hyperactive ninja that they had all loved. Years worth of memories of the boy running through their minds. All remembering how Naruto had been treated and no one had ever really stepped in to help him. They had all watched as Naruto had changed the villagers opinion's by his own strength and willpower. It was amazing to see the people who had once despised Naruto recognize him as the hero that he always had been. It was a shame that it had taken the villagers so long to see in Naruto what his team had seen in him long before. Thinking about it now, Sakura wished that she had been kinder to him from the beginning. But like Sasuke had said earlier it didn't do any good to think about the things you couldn't change. All you could do was somehow make peace with the past and learn to live with it.

As Konoha's Gates came into view, Sakura spotted Tsunade and Iruka waiting for them, and as their small group approached them. Sakura could already tell that Iruka had been crying, it hurt Sakura's heart to see the pain in the older man's eyes., Iruka had truly loved Naruto.

Their group stopped at the gates, pausing for Tsunade to reach out and touch Naruto's cool skin. Tears formed in the blonde haired woman's eyes.

"If I knew they were waiting for you. I wouldn't allow to take that mission." The people present could easily see the guilt in her eyes. It wasn't hard to guess that she blamed herself for Naruto's death.

"I'm sorry kiddo." Tsunade said softly. "we should have known that they wouldn't have given up on getting their hands on nine tails."

"It wasn't exactly the same group." Sasuke explained. "Kurama said they were basically ninja that worshiped the tailed beasts and believed that they should live free from their hosts."

"What kind of garbage is that?" Tsunade asked. "They still would have to be powerful enough to be able to do the extraction process. How did they even know how to do that to begin with? Do they pose a threat to the village?"

"Kurama took care of them?" Sasuke replied.

"So does he pose a threat?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't think so." Sasuke answered. "He just kind of disappeared but I would imagine that he will be a guardian of sorts. He won't want to destroy the village that Naruto loved so much."

"I'll take him." Tsunade told Sasuke. "he'll need to get cleaned up while the funeral arrangements are made."

For a moment Sasuke's grip on Naruto tightened, he didn't want to let Naruto go because it would be admitting that Naruto was really gone and Sasuke wasn't ready to admit that.

"Hang on." Iruka said as Sasuke started to hand Naruto to Tsunade. The brown haired man approached and looked down at the boy he'd loved like a son.

"Life shouldn't have ended this way for you." Iruka said softly. "You deserved the world and deserved to see your dreams come true. I would have been proud to have called you Hokage. I hope you find some peace in your next life. You've earned it, rest in peace sweet boy." Iruka closed his eyes and bent down and pressed his lips to Naruto's forehead.

"I'm sorry, Iruka." Sasuke said quietly. "I wish we could have had a better outcome."

"It's not your fault." Iruka said quietly. "No one expected for this to happen." Sasuke swallowed hard as he passed Naruto's body to Tsunade, his arms feeling as empty as his heart. From here he would have to inform Itachi what had happened with Naruto, it wasn't something that he wanted to do, but Itachi deserved to know. Both Sasuke and Sakura watched until Tsunade had disappeared with Naruto's body, before turning and heading towards the street that would take them home.

"I think it's time to go home and check on Itachi." Sasuke said. "I'm assuming that since Tsunade didn't sent a messenger bird that Itachi is doing okay for the moment." Sakura gave him a sad smile and nodded.

"I don't want to have to tell Itachi about this." Sasuke said. "I'm not entirely sure what he feels for Naruto, I don't know how he's going to take this."

"Probably shouldn't worry about that right now." Sakura said. "You will have the words when the time is right." Sasuke sighed and reached out and grabbed Sakura's hand. He was grateful that he had married her, because Kami knows after everything that Sasuke had put her through, she should have left him in the dust.

"Things are going to be different from now on." Sakura said as they turned down another street that brought them closer to home.

"I don't think that's a change I want to get used to." Sasuke said heaving a weary sigh, he was bone tired and wanted nothing more than to forget that this mission had ever taken place. When he'd gotten up this morning, he hadn't expected to get called to the Hokage's office, hadn't expected that the mission would be locating his best friend. Neither had he expected to find that same best friend lying dead with birds plucking at his skin. Finding Naruto that way was the stuff nightmares were made of, and it hurt that those doing the extraction hadn't thought that Naruto had deserved a proper burial. He couldn't help but hope that Kurama had made the murderers suffer tremendous agony before leaving them out in the sun to be picked apart by the birds. It would serve them right to be dumped like they weren't worth anything more than dirt.

"Try not to think about it." Sakura said knowing that would be hard for Sasuke to do. Impossible even because Sasuke's mind kept going over how Naruto had been found.

"He deserved more than just getting dumped like that." Sasuke told her. "They could have at least buried him."

"I know. But we brought him home. He'll get the burial he deserves." Sakura said softly as they reached the compound. "I'll get our things put away and get dinner started." Sasuke nodded and pressed his mouth to Sakura's for a quick kiss.

"I'll be with Itachi if you need me." Sasuke told her before heading down the hall. He paused outside Itachi's door still trying to find the words to tell Itachi what had happened? Finally after several minutes, Sasuke drew in a deep breath, releasing it slowly before entering the room.

"Naruto?" an extremely weak voice asked and Sasuke swallowed hard, Itachi's voice held so much hope that it hurt Sasuke to hear it.

"It's me Itachi." Sasuke said softly walking over to the bed.

"How'd your mission go?" Itachi asked quietly, turning his head in the direction that he had heard Sasuke come from. "Since your back already, I assume that it went well."

"Sort of." Sasuke answered. "it was a fairly easy mission. What are your feelings for Naruto?" Sasuke asked biting his lip. Itachi heaved a sigh and Sasuke knew that his brother didn't want to talk about it.

"How I feel about him doesn't matter because I won't seek a relationship with him." Itachi stated. "I think that what I may or may not feel is my own business little brother." Sasuke scowled, he knew that Itachi tended to close his emotions off, it was something that he had learned to do when he was in the Anbu but living with no emotions was next to impossible. Sasuke had the feeling that telling Itachi about Naruto would likely get the older man to open up about what he felt.

"Denying that you feel something for him isn't healthy and it only serves to deprive both of you of happiness. Which isn't fair to either of you." Sasuke told him angered by his reluctance to talk about it.

"I know you don't understand, Sasuke, but it's my choice whether I accept him or not." Itachi said. "and if you are going to nag me about it go somewhere else, I'm tired and would like to go back to sleep."

"Fine. Naruto's gone." Sasuke stated harshly, "and he's never coming back again."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Itachi asked sounding more than a little concerned.

"I mean that Naruto disappeared a week ago when he went on his mission. My mission was to find him and bring him back." Sasuke said.

"And did you find him?" Itachi asked.

"We just delivered his body to the Hokage." Sasuke answered, staring down at the floor as he drew in another deep breath, releasing it slowly. "He was murdered so Nine tails could be released." Sasuke watched as Itachi closed his eyes for a moment. He felt kind of bad about how he had broken the news to Itachi, but his older brother had irritated him to no end with his denial. He also suspected that Itachi's feelings for Naruto went deeper than even he realized and that perhaps Sasuke should have found a more gentle approach to the subject.

As Sasuke turned to head out the door, he watched a tear drop down from Itachi's blind eye and down his face leaving a wet trial behind. That tear told Sasuke that Itachi did indeed have deep feelings for his teammate. Sasuke didn't understand why Itachi had kept his feelings to himself, it wasn't like Sasuke would reject Itachi for feeling that way. Sasuke loved his brother and wanted him to be happy. After all that Itachi had been through for the village, he deserved some happiness.

"Take me to him." Itachi whispered. "I need to see him." Sasuke could already hear the guilt in his brother's voice and it only made him feel guiltier.

"Are you sure you feel up to it?" Sasuke asked, Itachi hadn't had the energy to get out of bed for a few days now. Sasuke didn't want to cause his brother any undue stress that would make Itachi lose his battle with the illness that much faster.

"Probably not." Itachi answered "But I need to see him." Sasuke nodded and walked over to the closet where Itachi's wheelchair was currently stored, pulling it out, Sasuke put his hand in the middle of the seat and pressed down, making the seat flatten out, before rolling it over next to Itachi's bed. Putting the brakes on, Sasuke reached over and gently pulled Itachi into a sitting position.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Sasuke asked. He wasn't sure if Lady Tsunade would even allow Itachi to see Naruto before the funeral. Then again she might because she had known that Naruto had been crazy about Itachi, but Itachi's feelings had remained unknown to everyone else, including Naruto. Sasuke had the feeling they were about to learn just important Naruto had been to Itachi.

"Of course I'm sure." Itachi said. "It's important that I see him." Sasuke wondered about that, but he proceeded to help Itachi into the wheelchair and when his brother was sitting comfortably Sasuke pushed him out of his room. If Itachi wanted to visit with what was left of Naruto who was he to stop him?

"I'm taking Itachi to see Lady Tsunade." Sasuke called down the hallway knowing that Sakura could hear him.

"Okay," she called back. "dinner will be on the table when you get back." Sasuke sighed as he pushed Itachi out of the house and headed toward the Hokage Tower. Naruto wouldn't be there, his body would likely be somewhere in the hospital, but they still needed to get permission from the Hokage to get in to see him.

"Are you mad at me?" Itachi asked finally breaking the silence.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Sasuke asked, frowning at his brother's back.

"Because I chased your best friend off." Itachi replied.

"No. I'm not mad. Naruto couldn't be stopped from taking solo missions. No one thought there were still people out there whom wanted Nine Tails. There was no reason to believe it." Sasuke said. He didn't want to tell his brother just how much he was hurting though, he didn't want Itachi to feel any guiltier than he already did.

"I think you were probably scared of the way you felt, because Anbu taught you to shut off your emotions." Sasuke told his brother.

"That doesn't really help." Itachi said. "I couldn't even tell him what he wanted to hear. I don't think my Anbu days had anything to do with it."

"You shouldn't have told him you cared just because he wanted to hear it." Sasuke said. "That would have hurt him even more if he found out that you didn't care as much as he did." Sasuke wondered if Itachi truly felt anything for Naruto, this conversation was really making him wonder if it was only Naruto that had any kind of feelings.

"Maybe not." Itachi muttered. After that the two fell into silence each getting lost in their own thoughts.

By the time Sasuke had reached the Hokage Tower, Tsunade was just leaving, she paused when she spotted the two Uchiha's coming towards her.

"What can I do for you?" She asked as Sasuke stopped in front of her.

"Itachi wants to visit with Naruto." Sasuke said.

"I suppose with Itachi's condition being what it is, it can't hurt." Tsunade said referring to Itachi's deteriorating condition. "I'm headed to the hospital now you can just come with me." Sasuke nodded, dreading the moment that his eyes would fall on his best friend's body. Sasuke feared that he would have a complete break down this time, Sasuke had done well keeping his emotions in check up to this point. However, Sasuke didn't think that it would last much longer once he saw Naruto again.

At the hospital Sasuke and the wheelchair bound Itachi followed Tsunade into a cool room. Naruto's body was laid out on a metal table in the middle of the room. The mud that he had been covered in had been cleaned off, leaving him much cleaner than he had been when he'd been found.

"What's he look like?" Itachi asked as Sasuke rolled him over to the table. Sasuke looked up at the ghostly pale body.

"He looks like he's at peace." Sasuke answered unsure of how to describe his friend to his older brother. "All that's missing is warm, bright smile."

"Help me stand?" Itachi asked Sasuke. Itachi didn't have much strength because of his illness but he was determined to stand beside Naruto. Sasuke reached down placing a hand around each of Itachi's biceps, trying not to grimace at the amount of weight his brother had lost, before gently pulling Itachi up.

Once Itachi was standing, he reached out and touched Naruto's face. Itachi's fingers tracing over every inch of the blonde boy's face, his fingers finding Naruto's nose, and mouth. Itachi's fingers slowly traced over Naruto's lips before gently ghosting over Naruto's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Itachi whispered as his fingers continued to trace Naruto's features. "Maybe if I hadn't been so scared and pushed you away, you might still be here." Itachi swallowed hard, it was his fault that Naruto no longer had a life to live. If Itachi had only accepted Naruto's love, the hyperactive Nin wouldn't have taken the mission that had stolen his life. Itachi's fingers traced over Naruto's lips again. He wished that for a moment he could look upon Naruto's face. Why had Itachi been afraid to tell Naruto how he felt? If he hadn't pushed Naruto away the man would still be alive.

"I'm sorry, angel," Itachi said softly his fingers continuing their journey of discovery. "You didn't deserve this and I could have prevented it from happening. I didn't want my death to hurt you, but now I know that I was wrong. If only you knew how much you were truly loved. Maybe you wouldn't have taken that mission." Itachi swallowed hard before bending down and gently touching his lips to Naruto's cool lips.

"I wish I could have done this earlier, that I hadn't been so afraid." Itachi said as he pressed another kiss to Naruto's lips before pulling away and collapsing back into his wheelchair, his strength drained.

"Take me home." Itachi told Sasuke "I can't be here anymore."

"Okay" Sasuke said softly, his heart bleeding after watching how Itachi had traced Naruto's face, it was like Itachi had been trying to memorize Naruto's face.

"I wish I wasn't blind." Itachi said. "I could look upon his face just one more time. My fingers don't get enough of the details."

"I don't know how you see things with your fingers anyways." Sasuke said as he turned Itachi's wheelchair towards the door.

"You would understand better if you were blind." Itachi replied harsh enough to stop any other questions from his brother. Itachi knew that his behavior would have told Sasuke all that he wanted to know about how Itachi felt about Naruto, Itachi didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to be able to mourn for Naruto and he didn't want Sasuke to pester him all the while he done so. Itachi knew that Sasuke would want to help him, but Itachi was going to get through it himself and then he would die, and hopefully be reunited with Naruto again.

"I only want to help you Itachi." Sasuke said quietly. "Obviously you cared more for him then you admitted. His loss isn't easy to deal with."

"And I will deal with it on my own." Itachi said, a warning tone to his voice. "I deserve to deal with it alone."

"Itachi" Sasuke started.

"Enough. Sasuke just let me die in peace already." Itachi snapped. He knew his brother meant well, but all that he wanted to do was mourn in peace. He didn't want anyone around to see that. He especially didn't want Sasuke to see how guilty he really felt about this whole mess. It was his fault that Naruto was dead and his little brother no longer had a best friend. Naruto was supposed to be the one to help Sasuke get through Itachi's own death. Now Sasuke would only have Sakura and Kakashi.

The trip back to the compound was made in silence. Itachi lost in memories of the blonde boy who had unexpectedly brought light to his dark world. When they reached the house, Sasuke rolled Itachi into his bedroom, and helped get Itachi back into bed before pushing the wheelchair into a corner and silently making his way out of the room. As Sasuke closed the door behind him, he heard Itachi give a soft cry of pain and it brought tears to Sasuke's eyes. He hated that Itachi wanted to deal with this alone. Sasuke didn't understand why his brother wanted to do it that way. Doing things this way had ended up costing him Naruto.

"I'm sorry, Itachi." Sasuke said resting his head against the door, while tears silently slid down his face. He hated that Itachi was hurting and wouldn't allow him to help. Feeling a hand on his back, Sasuke looked up to a see a red rimmed green eyes looking at him.

"How did it go? Was it a check up for Itachi's health?" Sakura asked.

"He wanted to see Naruto." Sasuke said. "You should have seen it, the way he touched Naruto's face. I think he wanted to memorize Naruto's face. It was kind of beautiful. It left me with no doubt that Itachi was as in love with Naruto as Naruto was with him."

"Why is he denying himself much deserved happiness?" Sakura wondered.

"He didn't want Naruto to grieve for him." Sasuke answered. "And I think Itachi was scared of how he felt. I don't think he had ever felt as deeply for anyone what he felt for Naruto."

"I guess that makes sense." Sakura said. "But one would think that Itachi would be fearless."

"He wasn't scared of anything physical." Sasuke said. "But he feared things emotionally, because we lost our parents when we were young. I think he feared losing someone else that he cared about."

"His fear of losing those he cares about caused him to push Naruto away." Sakura pointed out. "which led up to him losing Naruto."

"Just because my brother is a genius doesn't mean that he is always smart." Sasuke stated. "Aside from Itachi's impending death, things were going okay."

"I know it still doesn't feel real." Sakura murmured. "But I don't think he would want us to spend all of our time grieving for him."

"Easier said than done, we still have to get through the funeral." Sasuke said "and to be honest I don't know that Itachi will make it much longer, he's already incredibly weak. As much as I want Lady Tsunade to find a cure, I don't think she will."

"Don't give up hope." Sakura said pulling back and grabbing Sasuke's hand. Pulling him gently towards their bedroom, Sakura knew that Sasuke was about to break from all that he had been going through lately. He deserved to be able to do that in the privacy of their bedroom.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Liz

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