AN: So I'm getting really lazy because I don't have it in me to write a narrative. So I've decided to do a stream of consciousness thing, in which I use a series of vignettes to tell a story that has no real plot. As always, reviews will fuel my ego and perhaps inspire me to write some more.

Stillness of Toads

The world was a strange place to Iruka Uzumaki, little Roo to his family. It seemed like everyone knew who his father was.

Apparently an entire generation of young boys was named after the man, as well as bridges, streets, and even a mountain that had been created during one of his father's many famous battles.

Songs were sung of his deeds, novels were written about his triumphs and tragedies, and a recently released movie had just driven the "Naruto" craze into frenzy. There were Naruto dolls and lunch boxes for children and Naruto apparel and collectibles for the adults.

Little Roo was simply confused by it all. He knew his father was a skilled shinobi, but he was just so goofy sometimes. It was hard for the boy to fully appreciate the power that hid behind the large grin and bright blue eyes.

So one day, the boy was resolved to unlock the mystery that was his father. It was during one of their many strolls through the courtyards of Suna that little Roo decided to make his stand.

"What do you think about Temari?" asked Naruto, not realizing that his son had stopped. Only when the silence continued did Naruto turn back to see his little boy standing with a determined look about him.

"Roo?" his father ventured.

"I want to know Father. I want to know your power. What is the secret behind your power?" Roo asked, his voice firm and even. "I was born great," Naruto replied smugly, his Cheshire grin ever present.

"Hmmm," little Roo huffed, his arms folded neatly across the chest. Though he was only five years old, Roo was a precocious child—a genius if you will—and was not easily fooled by grins or tall claims.

"You doubt your father, the great Toad Sage Uzumaki Naruto!" Uzumaki Naruto bellowed, his chest high in the air, his arms brandishing muscles hidden behind the traditional garb of the Toad Sage, his weight supported by a large orange toad. Though Uzumaki Naruto was known by many names—Hero of the Valley, Hurricane of the Leaf, Legion, Storm Rider, Namikaze—he only cared for one title, the one bestowed to him by his former teacher. How he missed his old sensei.

Naruto was unnerved by the deafening silence. Peeking through squinted eyes, Naruto could see that his little one had more than doubt on his face. "Hey Gamiku," speaking to the toad, "do you think he's buying it?"

The toad, with a bored expression, replied, "nope."

Naruto returned his gaze to the nearly livid boy and asked: "Would you believe milk?"

Peeking through squinted eyes once more, Naruto saw that the furrow on his boy's face had deepened—perhaps permanently. "Good god, he inherited their eye brow," thought the famed shinobi.

Exhaling, leaving his body deflated, Naruto bowed his head in resignation. "Fine," he whined, "I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret."

Little Roo shook his tiny head emphatically. The boy began to sweat with anticipation. He knew that he was going to be inducted into the halls of adulthood with the secret behind his father's famed powers; it was exhilarating for the boy to know that he was finally on his way of becoming anything but a child.

Seeing the boy's enthusiasm made Naruto feel nostalgic for the old days when he too harbored such hopes and dreams. "Then come here," spoke Naruto as he held his arms open.

Roo, taking the invitation, ran to his father, and was gingerly placed on the man's lap. "It's actually quite simple. It's because I have you." Little Roo was confused by his father's seemingly heartfelt reply.

Catching onto his son's confusion, Naruto explained, "You see, someone taught me once, as I will teach you now, that when you have someone precious, someone you love with all your heart, you will find the strength to protect them. So you see, because I love you, and want to protect you, I grow stronger."

Naruto watched with pride as he saw his son absorbing his words, but then a sad countenance took hold of the boy, causing the father to worry.

"What's wrong son?" Naruto asked, feeling the dread rise in him.

At first, little Roo didn't want to speak the words aching to come out, and for a moment, he thought he could restrain himself, but as if the words had a mind of their own, they rushed past his lips.

"Does that mean you didn't love momma?"

Little Roo's ears began to fill with the sound of crashing waves—caused by the rush of blood being forced through his arteries by his thumping heart—as he felt the air thicken with an oppressive weight. Naruto looked away, his eyes clenched tightly shut, the pain evident on his face.

Images of his dear Hinata flashed before him as the memories of that terrible day came crashing into his head. Suddenly, he could feel the weight of her broken and bloody body pressing against his arms, the smell of charred flesh offending his nostrils, and the salty taste of his tears filling his mouth. His ears echoed with the sounds of that day, the terrible wail of his misery, the roar of the flames eating away at his home, the heat searing his skin.

"I'm not there," he began to chant silently, trying to stave back the insanity. With titanic strength, Naruto forced back the maelstrom of despair and suffering threatening to overtake him.

With a sudden motion, Naruto wrapped his arms around Roo, his face buried in the boy's hair. With eyes still shut, he mumbled to his son: "I loved her very much, more than the world, but I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry my boy…I'm sorry I couldn't—the words choking in his burgeoning tears—oh god, I'm so sorry."

It was the last time Roo ever asked his father about his fabulous strength. It was also the last time he ever asked his father about his mother.


My name is Haruno Sakura and I am perhaps the strongest shinobi of the Hidden Leaf village. The man lying next to me is Uzumaki Naruto. I am nothing compared to him. I could defeat armies; he could take down nations.

He was not always so powerful. Before he had become a god, he was just a boy with bright blue eyes and a smile that seemed to light up the whole world. But fate was not kind to him. As a child, he had to suffer his father's burden and was ostracized by the village—an unbearable loneliness nearly consumed him, but still, he lived on, hoping that one day, someone would acknowledge his existence, tell him that he wasn't worthless. How I curse those days; if I had not been so self-absorbed, then I could have saved him all those years of pain and anguish.

But he didn't need me back then. He had others to help him, friends who would become precious to him and so he would protect them – that was his choice. He worked tirelessly, trained relentlessly so he could be strong enough to protect those for whom he cherished. But it never seemed enough. He would master a technique more powerful than the last, achieve such power that it seemed to defy reason, but still, he would lose the ones he loved.

First it was Sasuke, then Jiraiya, later Hinata and their child, Temari, and the list goes one, names forever entombed in his heart.

Not even his spirit could withstand the misery of losing so many…his heart grew cold for it. He abandoned his dream of becoming Hokage; he abandoned the village he once swore to protect; and he abandoned me.

Yesterday, he shattered me with his words. I am not one to give into hyperbole, but if he had left me behind, I would have died. Perhaps, I should have died. But instead, with his strong arms, he carried me to his home, and embraced me—saving me from my despair.

Still, my heart will not heal, because I know soon, he will ask me to leave, as he has done since the first time he took me.

It has been a few weeks now since the day I found him in that distant homestead. Each day since then has been a mixture of pain and joy. He takes me into his bed, and I feel as if love can grow. But then dawn's light comes, and I am left alone. There are no words exchanged nor notes passed, only the emptiness where he once lay.

And my heart breaks each time, but I still leave the window open each night, knowing full well the misery that will come the next day. The pain is nearly unbearable, but I cannot deny him.

But tonight was different. He took me to his home and as the dawn approaches, Naruto has not stirred.

Dare I hope?

My eyes are shut, my breathing unchanged. I do not move—I fear waking him. I do not wish for this dream to end. My Naruto. His brow is heavy, his muscles tense, even at rest.

I can feel his clones' presence—four standing at each of the cardinal directions guarding the roost. I don't think he ever really sleeps anymore. Even now, his eyes may be closed and his breathing steady, but I know if anything would to stir in his home, he would be awake, kunai in hand. He knows no peace.

He was different back then, in our early days, so carefree and full of hope. But the life he lived, took those qualities from him, along with those most sacred to him.

He's moving.

My chest tightens.

His eyes are still closed, but I can see his lips are about to move.

"You should go."


Kankarou had always loved the sight of his beloved desert—the desolate landscape offering a unique beauty that only the hardened could love and appreciate—but not this not night.

This night only offered the grim conclusion of a life erred.

"With these two fists, I'll make my own ninja way. That's what you said Naruto," sighed the warrior, "What will you say now? What can your fists do now?"

His reply was silence.

For nearly twenty years, he had lived his life among the dunes, running across the sands, protecting his homeland. Battles had been fought, friends lost, love found, all in the precious vastness of the desert. But that life was gone now.

He had done the unthinkable, he had betrayed his country. And it wasn't for fame or fortune, it wasn't for vengeance or high ideals. The reason for his fall was more mundane than that. He had fallen prey to the oldest of weaknesses, a taint that has slain honorable men all throughout history: love.

Kankarou of the Red Sands, slayer of armies, a legend far greater than his title's predecessor, had fallen in love with an enemy agent, a woman of unscrupulous manner and deceit, a woman crushed by vengeful sand.

Now Kankarou found himself running from his home, hoping to escape the Kazekage's wrath, but not his fate. He was no coward, but he would be damned before he would allow his brother to commit fratricide and risk his hard won soul. So he waited until—

"I'm glad it's you, Naruto," said Kankarou as he sensed his friend's presence, "my family should not be the ones to carry out my execution."

Naruto stood silently, unsure of what to say. His mind buzzed with a whirlwind of questions and thoughts. He had just come home from a joint mission with the Sand when his wife, Temari, had come to him, distraught, near tears—a sight that no other man could claim to have seen from the Desert Princess, for she was of iron, wrought by heat as unforgiving as the sun.

Still, even her heart could not hold back the pain of losing a brother. That was the news she gave him before Naruto could even cross the threshold of their home.

She wept into his arms, telling him how the council had discovered a spy amongst their ranks and that the spy was none other than Kankarou's lover and second in command of the city guards. Each detail, each strangled fact, was a dagger to Naruto's heart, for he knew what every shinobi knows.

Betrayal means death.

But Naruto did not want his brother-in-law to die, not when they had just become a family. So he volunteered to bring Kankarou back to the village, hoping that perhaps he could salvage the situation—prevent the inevitable.

Naruto, however, had no grand epiphany when he laid eyes on the missing-nin, no clever trick to save the day, only a grim conclusion.

How did it come to this? It was the question that Naruto had been obsessing over in the three days that it took to track down his fallen comrade.

"Kankarou, why?" Naruto asked, his eyes quivering with raw emotion.

It hurt him to see the vaunted legend of the Leaf in so much pain, but Kankarou was no sentimental man. With a face devoid of expression, Kankarou, taking a long, drawn breath, finally exhaled in a slow drawl, "Why— in—deeeeeeeeed?"

Enraged by Kankarou's reaction, Naruto shouted "Dammit Kankarou, I'm serious!"

"It doesn't matter Naruto. I'm a traitor. That's all that matters," Kankarou replied with a smirk.

Naruto's mind flashed with the memories of their youth. They had been enemies once, when the Sand had joined forces with the village of Sound and attacked his home, but that was long ago. After the failed invasion, the Sand and Leaf reformed their alliance, and thanks in part to the efforts of Naruto and Gaara, their bonds of fellowship had never been stronger.

Since then, the four of them, Kankarou, Gaara and Temari had fought together, bled together. Tears and jokes were shared among them—he had married into their family. And now, Naruto was ordered by the Kazekage, his other brother-in-law, to execute on sight his kin.

Both men began dwelling on their thoughts, allowing the silence settled.

An errant remark shattered the silence: "Do you remember your bachelor party, Naruto? How for one week, we raised holy hell in the Moon Country. Can you believe even Gaara got drunk?"

Images of an irate blonde woman filled their minds, along with a begging Naruto and a hiccupping Gaara.

Naruto began to laugh, easing the mounting tension in the air. "How could I forget? Temari almost killed me after you blabbed about that dancer—

"Hey, now, I wasn't the one who mistook the stripper for my fiancé, did I?"

"That's because you said it was Temari in disguise," Naruto barked, remembering that he was too drunk to think clearly, let alone figure out the joke.

"And you believed me, you'll never be Hokage if you're that gullible."

At first, only a chuckle could be heard, but like an avalanche, the laughter came, louder by every second, baritone bravado echoing across the sands.

But like a fire that had exhausted its fuel, the laughter ebbed away, leaving only a suffocating silence.

"After Hinata died, I was lost. I was so consumed with rage that I couldn't even care for my own son. It was you who saved me Kankarou, it was you that helped me learn to live again with Temari….because of that, I won't let you die," spoke Naruto, a grim determination taking hold of him.

"COWARD!" Kankarou roared, his fists clenched, shaking with fury. "Coward," he roared once more, stinging Naruto with his accusation, for Naruto Uzumaki was no coward.

He did not stare down the cold eyes of a village as a child or the cruel hands of fate when they took away his beloved Hinata to be called a coward by anyone—even if it came from a brother.

"If you were anybody else Kankarou, you would be dead," Naruto replied through clenched teeth, his eyes revealing the barely contained rage.

Kankarou's expression remained unchanged, fierce, like the stone faces of guardian statues, his hand reaching for his holster.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

But Kankarou offered no reply. Instead, he pulled out three black spheres and held them between his fingers. Naruto recognized his brother-in law's weapon of choice.

"Dammit Kankarou, this is no time for jokes," Naruto cried out, his voice brimming with emotions, "no one has to die today."

"Now who's joking around. I'm a traitor to my village and possess secrets vital to the security of the Wind country. We both know what that means. Kill on sight."

Clenching his fist, Naruto, his voice booming, yelled, "I refuse to believe that."

Cutting him off, Kankarou, yelled back, "Do not forget your duty Uzumaki Naruto! Though you may be Leaf, you married into this family and as such, you are bound by honor to accomplish your mission. Temari…"

"Temari is pregnant!"

Kankarou felt his heart skip.

"Yes. We just found out. So you see, you have to come back, because our child will need an uncle—

"I'm happy for you and Temari, but that changes nothing."

With a smirk, Kankarou hurled the black orbs towards the bewildered Leaf shinobi. In a brilliant explosion, the orbs disappear. In their place, three hundred figures burst forth, clad in black, armed with a multitude of weapons.

In an instant, the puppet army tears through the shocked Naruto, his flesh rendered into bloody pulp. Kankarou showed no surprise as the remnants of his friend pop into clouds of smoke.

In another instant, three hundred Naruto clones phased into existence, each armed with a single, strange kunai. They pounce.

From the distance, as clone fought puppet, stood the generals of the combatant forces, their focus only on each other.

"What are you doing Naruto? You're not giving me you're all," Kankarou said without uttering a single word.

Naruto's silent reply: I can save you.

Kankarou can read Naruto's pain etched into his expression. He was sorry for that, but there was no choice.

Kankarou's hands flew into a rage of hand signs, stirring the chakra within. He could feel the raw power flowing through his body, the deep urge for release. "Fire Army Summons" Kankarou roared, his hand slamming into the ground.

Thousands of wooden men erupted from the earth, leaving fissures and spools of smoke in its wake. Naruto could only watch in awe as he sees his brother's true power. From what he understood of Kankarou's prized technique, the wooden men were summoned from some secret place, waiting to do their master's bidding.

Sensing his impending doom, Naruto leapt from his spot and threw up a shadow clone shield as the closest wooden man exploded, showering the terrain with fire and burning shrapnel. The intense heat seared through the flesh of the clones, absorbing most, but not all of the force.

Naruto felt the air forced from his lungs, his eyes burning from the intensity of the blast. He summoned more shadow clones, as the ones in front of him died, but it was not enough. Shrapnel pierced through his flesh, the smell of charred meat filled his nostrils, bile was on his lips.

Through the pain, he sensed another impending blast. Years of training and a razor sharp fighting instinct kicks in. Through sheer will, chakra swirled about him, his will condensing the density of the power surrounding him until an ephemeral light imbued the great master.

Kankarou's lips begin to curl into a smirk. He had seen it only once before, the great Rasengan, ultimate defense. Similar to the Hyuuga's defense, but with only one important difference – Naruto didn't need to spin to make it effective.

Naruto could feel the blast ripple across the blue sphere through his senses, but was shielded from the rampage outside. Kankarou did not relent, but kept detonating his monstrosities, knowing that Naruto could not move, lest he risk dropping his defense, so the two stood, struggling to maintain their techniques, straining from the effort.

After what seemed like an eternity, the smoke cleared and the blasts had stopped. Both men were weary and exhausted, but Naruto felt his strength returning, the chakra of the demon infusing him with its unholy power.

Kankarou could feel its power as well.

"How does it feel like to be a God?" asked the puppet master.

Naruto made no reply, his eyes trying to pierce through the folly of their time, but to no avail. In the time between moments, Kankarou had acted, calling forth another army of puppets, each clad in an iron shell, black as night, armed with all manner of weapons.

With a heavy heart, Naruto spoke. "You can't win, Kankarou."

"Don't get cocky, Naruto," yelled Kankarou, even though he knew in his heart that Naruto's words were not born from arrogance, but from a deep and profound sadness—a sadness stemming from the knowledge that his power had been used once before to slaughter the many.

And Naruto did not want to use such monstrous power against someone he considered precious.

"I want to see it, Naruto," said Kankarou, his tone even and steady, "I want to see you true strength."

Naruto could feel a sharp chill run through his spine. Death was near.

Kankarou pressed on. "She'll be the one you know…to carry out my execution."

"I wouldn't let her," Naruto replied, his words as sharp as his will.

"Even though Gaara is the strongest of us, in some ways, he's also the most fragile. It took him years before he could understand love Naruto, much of that is because of you. But he struggles with the madness, Naruto, that dark thing inside him from those days when he was the vessel for the one-tailed demon. Killing me could undo all those years of humanity, and for that reason, Temari would do anything—even it meant my death."

"It will not happen!" Naruto roared.

With a smirk, Kankura countered, "Well then Uzumaki, you leave me no choice. DIE!"

Kankouro's hands furiously blurred through the signs, the chakra swirling visibly around his body. A moment later, an army of puppets exploded from the earth, blanketing the landscape. Naruto recognized the puppet army his brother had used to decimate the samurai legions of the Western lands. Once again, a chill takes hold of him—a familiar feeling for one who has killed many. Was he going to explode them all? That would be suicide.

Naruto grimaced with frustration. His mind went through a hundred permutations, trying to find a solution, but it all ended up either killing his brother or dying with him in a fireball of destruction.

The Leaf Shinobi saw only one option: speed. If he could get to Kankarou and take him out before the puppet master could trigger the technique, then maybe, no one would have to die. But to gain that speed, he would have to move beyond his body's ability to react to a counter attack. He would be vulnerable, but more importantly, he may not be able to stop in time.

To achieve that speed, Naruto would have to channel his wind chakra to form a vortex that would crush everything in its path.

Still, it was his only chance to save his brother. With a silent prayer, Naruto summoned the chakra from the natural world around him. "I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU!" he roared as he sped forward, his kunai ready to slash through wooden army before him.

"Fool," Kankarou huffed.

In the span of a single breath, Kankarou felt the puppets in front of him explode with the tremendous force of Naruto's vortex technique, though his keen eyes could not see the man.

At the end of that single breath, Kankarou felt a blinding pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a blade slicing through him with speeds so fast that it resembled light more than steel. The puppet master chuckled. He was expecting something with big explosions or gale force winds from the Hurricane of the Hidden Leaf village, but Naruto was always full of surprises.

And it was surprise that the said man felt when his blade caught something more than the wood frame that he was expecting as he barreled through the army of puppets. Through his years of combat experience, Naruto knew without a doubt that his blade had met flesh, but his eyes, never wavering from his target, told him that Kankarou still stood a few dozen meters away.

Only when Kankarou burst into smoke did the Hurricane of the Leaf realized the truth of the matter. In his mind echoed: "See underneath the underneath."

"You hid among your puppets," Naruto gasped, as he saw the puppet army fall into pieces, their source of power cut off. He spun around and spied with horror a lone puppet still standing, blood rushing from a deep gash in the chest.

Kankarou unlatched the puppet armor disguising his face; he couldn't breathe with it on. But as the mask fell to the earth, Kankarou still labored to feed his lungs air—a consequence of having one lung pierced. He smiled at his friend and with ragged breath, spoke: "A tactic I learned well from the one I call brother."

The kunai fell from Naruto's hand. "No," he whispered.

"It's okay Naruto. This is how it should be."

Naruto never did talk about that day. Not with Temari nor with their children. Kankarou was never spoken of again.


Are you the maelstrom that tears asunder all under heaven, Naruto? Or are you the winds that carry the hope of generations?

Those were my master's final words to me, Pa Toad, the one who taught me the stillness of the toads—the source of my power. I think, when it came, he saw in me the boy that I was and not the man that I had become.

So I would like to think. We buried him in the side of the sacred mountain, along with Ma Toad. It was hard burying him.

It was harder carrying the guilt around. He would not have approved the things I've done, all the lives I took, all the devastation I had left behind. The sage arts were a gift from the ancients he used to tell me, something to be used to defend and protect, never to be used for slaughter.

But I desecrated the Sage arts by committing many terrible acts in my search of vengeance.

Yes, he would be very disappointed in the "chosen one."

But I am no boy anymore. All those foolish notions about friendship and ambition have left me, only my family matters. For them, I will do whatever is necessary.

That is my ninja way.