The Will to Live

A/N New Chapter, I decided to change the Chapter name, hope you enjoy it! Please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes!


"A Promise Made"


"Naruto! Wake up!" a familiar voice cried in a slightly annoyed tone.

Blue eyes opened slowly, flinching at the bright sunlight as it pierced through his eyelids.

"W-What?" the whiskered blonde whispered.

"Come on Dobe. Wake up, we have to meet Kakashi at the bridge."

Another familiar voice, and this time, blue eyes snapped open as the blonde teen jolted upwards only to meet the annoyed face of one familiar pink haired, green eyed girl, a small frown on her face, and beside her, the nonchalant expression of one raven haired duck-butt Uchiha.

"S-Sakura-chan? S-Sasuke?" the blonde asked, eyes still wide.

A single raven eyebrow rose at the sudden name calling.

"Something wrong idiot? You usually never call me by my actual name?" Sasuke stated, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands in his pockets.

Naruto was still frozen in shock, his eyes drifting to-his now smaller-hands. In fact, he noticed he was wearing his old orange jumpsuit, and he felt shorter-a lot shorter-as well as the familiar feeling of his Chakra running freely, without the strange Rift Energy flowing beside it.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Sakura asked, a worried expression replacing the annoyed one.

"W-What?" the golden-blonde teen mumbled.

"I think you hit him a little too hard woman." Sasuke commented, a small smirk over his face as he watched the blonde turn to him, only for the smirk to fall once he noticed the corners of the blondes eyes beginning to water.

He wasn't the only one however, as Sakura noticed as well, her arm extending slowly as she bit her lip.

"Naruto?.." she whispered in worry.

"It was all a dream? The fight? Sasuke leaving? Takashi? Saya? Shizuka? The New World? It was all..a dream." the blonde repeated, his heart pumping wildly as he absorbed the information, then in a flash he grabbed the two and embraced them, tears falling from his eyes as he squeezed as tightly as possible.

"It was all a dream.." he continued to whisper-lost in his own world-while Sasuke and Sakura were frozen, unsure of what to do.

Glancing at each other, the two gave a small nod, and slowly hugged the blonde back. Naruto for the life of him couldn't understand what was going on-and he didn't care-it was all a dream, he wasn't in a new world, he wasn't facing the end, he wasn't alone.

He was home, with his friends, with Jiraiya, with Kakashi, with Iruka, with Tsunade, with the Rookie Nine. He could still accomplish his dream, he coul-a sudden realization struck him as the faces of his new friends flashed in his mind.

What about Takashi? Or Saya? Or Shizuka? Or Saeko?

What about everyone, were they really fake, did he really make them up in some sort of dream?

No!

Maybe he was still stuck in some sort of Genjutsu.

Pushing himself off of the two, his blue eyes suddenly sharpened as he reached into his Kunai holster, pulling out the sharp weapon and holding it defensively.

Sasuke and Sakura were even more confused, one second the blonde was hugging them and crying, the other he's holding a weapon to them as if they were enemy Shinobi.

"Naruto! What are you doing!?" Sakura cried as she backed up a little, the predatory gaze in the blondes eyes sending shivers running down her spine.

"Shut up!" the blonde commanded, a bead of sweat falling down his cheek as his mind raced with plans and assumptions.

"This can't be real! There's no way!"

Cerulean eyes narrowed as the teen began to charge up his Chakra, if there was one way to prove this wrong, it had to be this way. No matter how real this felt, his real body would spazz out from an overcharge of Chakra, waking him up from whatever dream he was in.

Then a sudden thought him him.

Did he want to wake up?

"Naruto! Dammit Sakura, how hard did you hit him?" Sasuke growled, his now Sharingan eyes glaring holes into the pinkett, who flinched under the gaze.

"I didn't mean too! I was just practicing a new technique!" she defended.

"On your teammate!" Sasuke bit back.

"Shut up! Shut up!" the younger blonde hollered, his eyes narrowing into mere slits.

There's no way he could have dreamed all of that, you don't just have two year long dream, then find yourself in the middle of an undead apocalypse. This had to be some sort of trick?

An illusion.

But the only person he knew who could do that was Sasuke, and he wasn't even sure if the Uchiha was alive.

Growling, he flipped the Kunai over and aimed it at his hand.

"Pain should wake me up from whatever this is."

He could have just bit his lip, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough to wake him up-he needed to be sure.

"Naruto! Shit!" Sasuke cried, realizing what the blonde was about to do, a wound like that would end up putting him in the Hospital.

Before he could stop him however, the blonde jammed the Kunai into his hand-wincing at the pain-and watching the blood flow freely from the wound, no healing, nothing. The wound was deep, and the blood rushed even more as he removed the Kunai, the blood stained weapon falling to the floor as the whiskered blonde fell to his knees holding his hand.

He didn't register the screaming or the cursing-he didn't even register the the world spinning around him-all that he could feel was the burning pain as his eyes closed, a cold feeling washing over his body as he greeted the unconscious with glee, if this was really a dream, then it would be proven now.


Cerulean blue eyes snapped open once more, as the golden-blonde jolted upwards, surprising three people that surrounded his downed body.

Naruto blinked as he faced three unknown faces, the first was a teen with dark brown hair, two long bangs framing his face. Dark brown eyes reflected a bit of shock, but was schooled under a mask of indifference. The teen wore a simple black shirt, and torn blue jeans with white sneakers.

Next to him was a girl, with long flowing lavender hair that was pulled into a braid. Her eyes were a pale teal color, with a tint of a darker green and she had a pale complexion. Over her body was a light blue flower shirt, and tan cargo shorts with blue sandals.

The final of the three was another male, this one with spiky black hair and deep blue eyes, a small scar on the side of his face running horizontally under his eye. He wore a baggy blue jacket and tan jeans with white sneakers.

The three looked to be around fourteen years old, and from the looks of it, they had been taking care of him while he was unconscious.

After a moment of awkward silence, the teen with the spiky black hair gave a small nervous grin and spoke.

"Uhh..hi there."

Next to him, the girl sighed, while the other male rubbed his temples.

Naruto continued to stare at the three, before giving a matching grin of his own.

"Sup." he responded.

The male with the brown hair snorted at the two, already annoyed for some unknown reason.

"Tch, we managed to save another idiot. Congratulations." he spoke as he stood and placed his hands in his pocket-in a very Sasuke like way-the blonde noticed.

The girl giggled at the twos actions, while the darker haired of the three growled and flicked his friend off.

"Ignore them, they bicker a lot. My names Sasume, and these two are Sen and Taka." she gestured to the two.

Sen gave another grin, while Taka gave a familiar 'hn' sound.

Naruto was still frozen at the familiarity of their actions-it was like another team seven-in some sort of awkward way.

Shaking his head mentally, he laughed at the idea.

"I don't even know them, and I'm already comparing them to us. That dream must have messed me up a little."

At the the thought of the dream, the blonde found himself a bit depressed, he had hoped, that maybe it wasn't a dream-that maybe he really did make this all up. However, life was once again cruel. He was stuck in this hell, and there was no way of returning home.

His mood rolled off of him in waves, something the three younger teens noticed, although they thought it was for a different reason.

"Hey man..uhh, what's your name?" Sen asked, a sheepish grin on his face.

Naruto blinked at the familiar grin, and then smiled.

"Naruto." he responded.

The dark haired teen gave a nod, while Taka raised an eyebrow.

"After the Ramen topping?" he asked with a bit of humor in his voice.

Naruto growled as a vein pulsed on his forehead-he was really getting tired of the whole Ramen jab.

"Maelstrom. It mean's Maelstrom." he mumbled.

Taka shrugged and gave no response. The blonde was really about to question his sanity, this kid was acting exactly like his own broody Uchiha, he wouldn't be surprised if his eyes flashed red for a second.

Sasume groaned as she too stood, then grabbed both of the teens by the ear, ignoring their cries of protest and pain.

"Listen here, this guy saved our lives. So you be polite!" she ordered, the righteous feminine fury aura covering her body.

Naruto blinked, and tried to spring a memory of the three up, only to find none.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but when did I save you?" the whiskered teen asked.

Three pairs of eyes blinked, before Sasume gave a small sigh. "Well, I guess it was a year or so back, so you might not remember us, but we remember you."


"Sen!" A younger Sasume cried as the spiky haired teen was knocked to the ground, wincing as his cheek collided with the hard concrete.

"Bastard!" Taka growled as he rushed the group of six or so men, each smirking as the brown haired pre-teen cocked his fist back and gave a cry, only for the lead man to duck and slam his knee into the boys stomach. He the followed it up with a rough shove to the ground, sending Taka rolling across the pavement, cutting his body up.

"Sorry kids, but you're in Dragon Territory, and if you don't pay up, you will get hurt." the leader, a man with slicked back blonde hair and snake like eyes spoke.

"Hey boss, that girls kind of cute, bet she'd get a mighty fine price in the market." one of the thugs from the back stated, getting a chorus of agreement from the others.

The leader smirked even wider, and approached Sasume who was backing up slowly, her heart pumping wildly as fear clenched her very core. The man reached over and grabbed her cheeks roughly, pulling her in an examining her.

"Yeah, she would. If she's a virgin we'd get a fine price, but if not...well...more fun for us."

The men laughed, while Sen growled, lifting himself shakily off the ground as he stood, his swollen left eye shut from the bruise forming.

"Don't touch her!" he roared, rushing the surprised man and landing a powerful blow to his jaw.

The White Dragon member wiped the blood from his lip, and gave the pre-teen a furious glare, grabbing him by the hair and slamming his face on the wall.

"You little shit!" he cried, punching him in the ribs repeatedly, ignoring the cries of pain.

"You like this little bitch don't you?" he whispered into his ear, as he brought his mouth close to the teens ear "Well, I'll make sure I do her right for the both of us."

Sen squirmed at that, his anger boiling over once more. Just as the leader of the small group was about to strike, a sudden fist to the back of his head stopped any further actions, as a bleeding Taka gave him a small smirk.

The smirk didn't last much longer as the other men rushed the pre-teen, knocking him into the ground as they began to kick him and punch him in random locations. The leader stood and watched in satisfaction as they beat on the smaller male as he rubbed the back of his head.

Turning to Sen, he lifted him up by the hair once more, and punched him directly in the face over and over.

"You punch have punch a lot of punch spirit!" he then let the dark haired boy drop the floor, his lip and nose bleeding as he stared at the sky with a dazed expression "I like that, too bad I'm going to have to break it."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small blade, and then held it to the thirteen tear olds cheek.

"No!" Taka cried as he extended a hand outward only for one of the men to stomp on it.

"Shut up brat!"

Taka roared in pain as he clutched his arm, he could feel some of the bone cracking as he did so.

The Dragon member gave a sick grin, before turning back to Sen, and then placing the blade over the teens cheek, then cutting deep-the young male screaming in pain-as the blade was dragged across his skin deeply.

"I'm going to give you a little memory." the man chuckled.

"Dynamic Entry!"

All eyes turned to see an orange and black blur slam into the lead thugs face-the sound of bones breaking echoing around the deep alley-as the man flew through the air and then slammed into the wall, then falling into an unconscious bliss.

All eyes turned to the scowling face of a whiskered blonde teen, his blue eyes glaring into the thugs. You didn't need to be a genius to understand what was going on here.

"How pathetic, grown men picking on children." the teen whispered, although it was heard as clear as if he was yelling.

"What!? Who the hell are you!?"

Naruto, or rather the strange blonde didn't respond, instead, he bent down and examined the dazed Sens face, growling as he saw the damage, letting him down gently, he turned to the still staring men.

"Screw pathetic, you're trash."

The gang didn't take to well to that, as they moved from Taka, and approached the now standing blonde, frowns and smirks varying on each face.

"Listen kid, normally, we'd tell you to leave. But after what you did to boss, and those little comments. We'll settle for teaching you a lesson. You're in Dragon territory, your life is forfeit." another goon spoke, the men behind him chuckling darkly.

Naruto didn't respond, instead he just cracked his neck, then motioned for them to come with his index and middle finger.

What happened next would be what the three younger teens consider 'domination'. They watched as the blonde tore through the men smoothly and effectively, wincing at the sound of broken bones and screams. Then, in less then a minute, the blonde stood unharmed-brushing his shoulders off-in the middle of a small pile of groaning and unconscious bodies.

"Hm, they weren't that tough." he mused.

Turning around, he gave a small wave as he left behind three stupefied teens.

"Wait!" Sasume cried.

The whiskered blonde stopped, titling his head back as he gave her a questioning glance.

Hesitating a bit,she turned to her two friends, seeing them both unconscious as well from their wounds, then back to the blonde.

"T-Thank you!" she spoke, although a bit quieter.

Naruto gave a wide grin, and was about to speak, when the sound of sirens cut him off.

"Shit! The cops!" he cried-taking off as he did so, leaving a confused and sweat dropping girl behind.


Naruto blinked at the story.

"I remember that, Saya kicked my ass for coming home late that night." he spoke with a small frown.

Sasume gave a nervous chuckle, but smiled none the less.

"Mhm. We always wanted to find you, and thank you properly, but we never could. So imagine our surprise when we found you unconscious on the street." she finished with a real smile.

The whiskered blonde ran a hand through his hair as he took in the information. If he actually passed out in the middle of the street, then he was even more worn out then he thought, luckily because of his banged up appearance, people probably thought he was dead so they left him alone.

"Well I guess now it's my turn to thank you." Naruto stated.

"Tch, we're even now." Taka mumbled, still sore about what had transpired a year ago.

Sen gave a bright grin, and elbowed his friend in the ribs, receiving a small half hearted glare from the brown haired teen.

"What he means is he appreciates your help."

Naruto gave Taka a grin, in which the teen responded with a small smirk, while Sen extended an arm out to the blonde to help him up, which he gratefully took.

Once he was standing to his full height, he realized he was wearing a fresh and clean white shirt and black jeans, his old torn and bloody clothing must have been thrown away and replaced with this. He had to admit, it felt good to be out of the smelly old fabrics.

"I really appreciate all the help guys." he commented.

"Don't mention it!" Sen responded cheerfully.

"What are you going to do now?" Sasume asked, something the other two were secretly wondering as well.

Naruto considered it for a second, his eyes drifting to the small window to his right, over looking the City, noticing the sun was already setting. He was out for more than an hour, that's for sure.

From his perspective, this was an apartment complex, and they were a couple of floors above ground.

"Well, I have some friends to find, but I won't have much luck searching for them at night. I don't know this part of the City very well. So if you don't mind, can I stay here for the night?" he asked.

The three gave their own way of saying yes, and the blonde grinned in response, uttering a quick thank you.

"I've got some food cooking, if you'd like some." Sasume stated.

At the mention of food, Narutos stomach gave a loud response for him, causing the three younger teens to chuckle and send him amused smirks, the blonde only scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Lead the way."

After the four had set up the small dinner table, and served the food, they sat in a comfortable silence-well as comfortable as it could be with Naruto inhaling the food and them watching-before the blonde finally patted his satisfied belly, a grin on his face.

"That was awesome!" he commented.

Sasume giggled at his antics, watching as Sen did the exact same as he did with amusement.

"Thank you, my mom taught me when I was younger." Sasume responded with a small smile.

Naruto noticed the small flash of pain in her eyes, and mentally sighed, he almost forget these kids were alone now probably.

"You guys must be pretty smart. You've done more than survive so far." the blonde commented, changing the subject.

"Thanks, this is Sens house. It was the safest place we could think of." Sasume responded, while the other teen grinned once more.

"Yup, been here since I was ten years old."

Naruto didn't miss the way he said that, it reminded him of the first time Sasuke and Sakura came over to his apartment.

Glancing around, he noticed that there were no pictures of parents, just him and the other two, something strange but familiar as he had seen the same, only in his own home. "

He's an orphan.." the whiskered teen thought to himself, a small pang in his heart as he realized how similar they were.

"You guys seem pretty tight." the teen stated-more than asked-as he gestured to the pictures around the small kitchen.

The three glanced at each other, then gave a nod.

"We've known each other since we were little, Sasumes parents and mine were friends, and my parents ran the local Orphanage. Which is how we met the idiot." Taka explained, gesturing to the now growling Sen.

"You got a problem teme!?" Sen roared as he stood, stomping on the table as he shook his fist at the other male.

Taka 'hnd' and stood as well, smacking the fist away and glaring at his friend, you could have sworn to see sparks fly between them.

Sasume sighed and then stood, slapping them both in the back of the head.

"Shut it you two." she ordered.

The two teens groaned from their position on the floor, while Naruto watched with a small smile on his face. The familiarity of it all, it was honestly incredible-granted they got along a little better then Sasuke, Sakura, and him-but still, it was all to familiar.

"You guys are something rare you know." the blonde suddenly commented.

The three turned to him, a questioning expression on their faces as the blonde stood from his sitting position, repressing a wince at his still sore muscles.

"You remind me of me and my old friends, what you have is something special. Don't lose that."

Picking up his dishes, along with the others, he moved to the sink and began to wash them, ignoring the questioning glances as he scrubbed and washed.

"You're a weird one." Sen commented as he stood.

"Look who's talking." Taka responded with a smirk.

"Shut it!" Sasume finished.

"Yes mam." the two responded.

Naruto gave out a loud bark of laughter, and the two younger teens gave him an annoyed glare, before Sen suddenly tackled the blonde to the floor, Taka smirking as he joined his friend, both attacking the blonde as he struggled to shove them off, although he was laughing along with two teens.

In the past days, he'd have to say this was one of the few times he felt fully at peace. These kids, they reminded him so much of Team Seven, it was so strange.

Grabbing the younger teens and placing them both in a head lock, the whiskered blonde stood and walked to the living room, tossing them onto the couch and then sitting on both of their bodies, sighing comfortably as they struggled underneath him.

"So, how do you guys handle the night?" the teen asked.

"Well, we usually each take a night and stay up, while the other two rest. Tonight is Sens night." Sasume responded underneath her giggles.

The teen in question gave a loud groan, letting his head sink into the couch as he did so.

"Goodbye sleep, I knew thee well." he mumbled, although it was slightly muffled.

Naruto gave a grin as he stood, finally letting the duo free.

"How about I stay up for you guys?" he asked.

"Really!? That's gre-"

Sen was cut off as Sasume placed a hand over his mouth, giving the blonde an apologetic smile as the younger teen struggled.

"No! You're still injured. You should get some sleep too." she stated.

Naruto gave a small grin, but nodded none the less. Catching a small blanket thrown his way by Taka, he made his way to the couch, leaving a depressed Sen, while Taka made his bed in the small guest room, and Sasume took up Sens room.

After saying their goodnight, the three slowly drifted to sleep, while Sen sat out in the balcony, a small bat in hand and a revolver in the other, something he picked up on the streets.

As the hours swelled, the teen found his eyes drooping slightly, and just as he was about to fall asleep the sound of the sliding door behind him woke him up. Turning quickly, he was surprised to meet the blinking face of the blonde they currently harbored.

"Whoa there kid, relax." the blonde stated with a small smile.

The shorter male felt his eyebrow twitch at the 'kid' comment.

"Don't call me a kid, you're not even that much older than me." he grumbled as he turned back to face the City.

"Still older." Naruto replied as he took a spot beside him.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before the blonde glanced over to the sleepy teen. His spiky black hair resembled his when he was younger, and his eyes reflect a fierce determination to protect his friends, something that made the blonde give a small ghost of a smile.

Reaching around his neck, the blonde undid the necklace that rested over his chest, and held it in his hand, staring at the gleaming gem as it glittered in the night.

"It's pretty." Sen whispered.

Naruto nodded.

"It means a lot to me, it represented a promise, but now I can't fulfill the promise." he whispered.

Sen didn't respond, instead, he turned back to watch the twinkling starts, and the lights in the distance. Everything seemed so calm, as if the world wasn't currently ending. There weren't even any infected running about underneath them, seeing as this was more of the abandoned side of the city, so less people.

"Your friends." the blonde suddenly spoke "They mean the world to you right?" he asked.

Sen didn't reply at first, but then gave a slow but confident nod, his eyes burning with that fire-that familiar fire-something that he would have called the Will of Fire.

The drive to protect something.

Reaching over, the blonde grabbed the younger teens hand and then placed the necklace in it.

"W-What are you doing?" Sen questioned.

He was about to continue, until he locked with almost guilty blue eyes, much like his own, and then he couldn't find the words to protest anymore.

"I may not be able to keep my promise, but you can make one to me right now. Protect your friends, because they'll need you just as much as you need them. Taka may come off as an ass sometimes, but he cares for you like a brother, and Sasume may be tough, but she loves you just as much. Maybe even more." he added with a wink.

Sen was at a loss for words.

"Do you promise?" the blonde asked the shorter teen.

"Y-Yeah, I promise."

"You promise what?"

His eyes suddenly grew even more fierce, the fire burning brighter.

"I promise to protect them. I promise to protect my precious people." he whispered.

Naruto gave a short nod, and then patted the teen on the head as he turned to face the City. If he could give these kids a reason to fight, a reason to continue on, just like his friends give him a reason, then he was sure they would survive.

"My teacher once told me, those who break the rules are trash." he paused "But those who abandon their comrades are worse then trash."

Those words were imprinted in the younger teens mind, as the whiskered blonde closed his eyes and enjoyed the small breeze that rolled in.

Maybe he did want to go home, but he wouldn't dare leave his friends behind. After all, he said it once before, they were his Will to Live.

On this night, a promise was born, and a torch was passed along, from one to another. To protect the people they care for.

"In the morning, I want you and the others to leave with me. I can take you somewhere safer." Naruto stated.

Sen gave a nod, then spoke.

"I'll have to talk to the others."

Naruto nodded in return, placing his hands in his pocket as he did so.

"I'm sure they'll agree. Now, go get some rest kid."

The blonde gave the shorter teen a wide grin, in which he returned, along with a thank full smile, then left the gun and bat, entering the house before shutting the slide door behind him leaving the blonde to his own. Once he was sure the teen was comfortably asleep, the blonde gave a small sigh as he turned to gaze into the distance. His thoughts on his home for the first time in a while.

He never really thought about it, but did he want to go back?

If he found away, would he go back?

Glancing at his shoulder, his lifted the sleeve up and noticed the wound that was previously there was now gone.

What about that creature, it was obviously after him. He put the others in danger-granted he didn't even know about its existence-but they still could have gotten hurt, or worse.

Maybe it was about time he actually started searching for a way home, now was a better time then ever to do it. Kyubi said there was no way back, but once he also said there was no way of returning some of his power.

What was the fox hiding? He knew it knew more than it was letting on.

The teen growled in frustration as he slammed his fist on the railing, leaving a small dent as he did so. He'd be faced with a choice soon, the question is, what choice would he make?


Hope you liked this Chapter, things are going to start building up soon. The group will soon be facing some serious tension, and maybe someone will be parting ways. I hope you like my OC's, they will be serving a purpose soon. Anyways, this was more of a Naruto-centered chapter, and next chapter will end the Naruto Alone Arc. Let me know what you think? Later!